Venous Insufficiency in Patients With Toenail Onychomycosis

• Published in: Journal of ultrasound in medicine Vol. 24; no. 8; pp. 1085 - 1089
• Main Authors: Kulac, Mustafa, Acar, Murat, Karaca, Semsettin, Cetinkaya, Zafer, Albayrak, Ramazan, Haktanir, Alpay, Demirel, Reha
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Am inst Ulrrasound Med 01.08.2005; American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Case-Control Studies; Chi-Square Distribution; Doppler ultrasonography; Foot Dermatoses - complications; Foot Dermatoses - diagnostic imaging; Humans; Middle Aged; onychomycosis; Onychomycosis - complications; Onychomycosis - diagnostic imaging; Ultrasonography; venous insufficiency; Venous Insufficiency - diagnostic imaging; Venous Insufficiency - etiology
• ISSN: 0278-4297; 1550-9613
• DOI: 10.7863/jum.2005.24.8.1085

Objectives Onychomycosis is a common fungal infection of the toenails and can originate secondary to vascular abnormalities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between onychomycosis and venous insufficiency. Methods Forty‐two patients with onychomycosis and 39 healthy control subjects who had normal toenails were enrolled in the study. Doppler examinations were performed with a commercially available scanner and a 7.5‐MHz linear probe. Major superficial and deep veins of the lower limb, including long and short saphenous, femoral, and popliteal veins, were examined. Venous insufficiency was assessed with the Valsalva test. With the Doppler examination, retrograde flow of more than 1 second was accepted as venous insufficiency. Results Venous insufficiency was detected more frequently in patients with onychomycosis than in the control group (15 [35.7%] of 42 and 6 [15.4%] of 39, respectively; P = .037). Reflux was bilateral in 4 (26.7%) of 15 patients with onychomycosis, and in those 4 patients the onychomycosis was also bilateral. In 7 (46.7%) of 15 patients, onychomycosis and venous insufficiency were detected ipsilaterally, whereas there were no onychopathic features contralaterally. Although unilateral insufficiency was present in 4 (26.7%) of 15 patients, these patients had bilateral onychomycosis. Conclusions We found a significant relationship between onychomycosis and venous insufficiency; therefore, we recommend a routine venous Doppler examination for patients with onychomycosis to diagnose or rule out venous insufficiency.