Koilonychia
Encyclopedia
Koilonychia is a nail disease
Nail disease
Nail diseases are distinct from diseases of the skin. Although nails are a skin appendage, they have their own signs and symptoms which may relate to other medical conditions. Nail conditions that show signs of infection or inflammation require medical assistance...

 that can be a sign of hypochromic anemia
Anemia
Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...

, especially iron-deficiency anemia. Koilonychia literally means "spoon nails." It refers to abnormally thin nails (usually of the hand) which have lost their convexity, becoming flat or even concave in shape. In a sense, koilonychia is the opposite of nail clubbing.

Koilonychia is associated with Plummer-Vinson syndrome
Plummer-Vinson syndrome
Plummer–Vinson syndrome , also called Paterson–Brown–Kelly syndrome or sideropenic dysphagia presents as a triad of dysphagia , glossitis, and iron deficiency anemia...

, and iron deficiency anemia.

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