CUTANEOUS AND ORAL PIGMENTATION AND NAIL DISCOLORATION IN HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS INFECTION

Introduction. Nail dyschromia in patients infected with human immunode ficiency virus (HIV) was first described in 1987 by Furth and Kazakis. It has since been reported in patients with the acquired immunodefici ency syndrome (AIDS), predominantly in patients treated with zidovudin e. Case report. We describe the case of a 37 years old white woman, wh o developed AIDS in 1994, with nail longitudinal colored bands, oral a nd cutaneous pigmentation without taking zidovudine. Discussion. There have been four reports of nail pigmentation in HIV-infected patients who had no received this antiviral agent. The singularity of our case is the onset in a white woman. A lot of causes must be evoked and biol ogy must be done, with histopathologic study when it is possible.