Onychomatricoma: report of three cases, including the first recognized in a colored man

Onychomatricoma is an uncommon benign tumor of the nail matrix with typical clinical features. We report here 3 cases of onychomatricoma, including th e first case in a black patient, In all three patients a presumptive diagno sis of onychomatricoma was made by clinical examination, The affected nails were thickened and showed a marked overcurvature of the nail plate, Fronta l view of the nail revealed the presence of small woodworm-like cavities wi thin the nail plate. In all cases the pathology showed multiple fibroepithe lial projections that extended into the thickened nail plate, The tumor epi thelium was identical to that of the normal nail matrix and keratinized wit hout a granular layer.