Which condition refers to excess living skin that can remain attached to the nail plate and disrupt normal nail growth?

Which condition refers to excess living skin that can remain attached to the nail plate and disrupt normal nail growth?

• A. Pterygium
• B. Hangnail
• C. Sidewalls
• D. Paronychia

Answer: (A)

The described condition is pterygium. It involves excess living skin that grows over and remains attached to the nail plate, pulling on it as the nail grows and often causing abnormal or disrupted nail growth. This happens when damage or inflammation affects the nail matrix or surrounding cuticle, leading to scar tissue that clings to the nail plate. Hangnail is just a loose piece of skin or torn cuticle at the side or base of the nail and doesn’t stay attached to the nail plate to affect growth. Sidewalls are the surrounding nail folds, not a growth-disrupting condition, and paronychia is an infection around the nail. So the key idea is the presence of living skin that remains attached to the nail plate and interferes with normal nail growth, which is pterygium.

The described condition is pterygium. It involves excess living skin that grows over and remains attached to the nail plate, pulling on it as the nail grows and often causing abnormal or disrupted nail growth. This happens when damage or inflammation affects the nail matrix or surrounding cuticle, leading to scar tissue that clings to the nail plate. Hangnail is just a loose piece of skin or torn cuticle at the side or base of the nail and doesn’t stay attached to the nail plate to affect growth. Sidewalls are the surrounding nail folds, not a growth-disrupting condition, and paronychia is an infection around the nail. So the key idea is the presence of living skin that remains attached to the nail plate and interferes with normal nail growth, which is pterygium.