Yellow Nail, Female age 27, fluid buildup

[nc27407]

Have a friend that has been mostly hospitalized off/on since Sept 2009.  Yellow nail is very rare, but even more rare for someone this young.  The majority of the problems are from the fluid buildup; worst part is around the lungs causing breathing difficulty.  Any insights would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Your friend is having yellow nail syndrome. This causes blockage of the lymph channels and hence there is fluid build up. Several lung conditions are associated with it such as recurrent pleural effusions (fluid in space around the lungs), bronchitis, sinusitis, and less often bronchiectasis (chronic, abnormal dilation of the bronchi in the lungs with copious cough). Hence since she is having respiratory problems, an X-ray should be taken and if there is pleural effusion it should be treated. Please consult either an internal medicine specialist or a chest specialist. Possibility of any malignancy, rheumatoid arthritis or any immune deficiency disease should be investigated as these can precipitate the yellow nail syndrome. Fluid build up could be due to severe anemia, a failing heart, serious kidney disease, liver failure, electrolyte imbalance, polycystic ovary, low protein in the blood, and disorders of adrenal gland. All this can give a yellowish appearance to nails. Your friend must have had numerous blood tests. See if any of the above conditions were missed out. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

[KFB818]

My husband has yellow nail syndrome, and for the last 6 months has had considerable fluid buildup in the lung cavity.  His doctor is now trying Octreotide, which has been shown to reduce chylous pleural effusions, but he has non-chylous so it's too soon to see if this will work.  His doctors wanted to do talc pleurodesis, which glues the lungs to the lung cavity (and blocks the fluid from going there) but he doesn't want this since where would the blocked fluid go?  At least from the lungs, it could be drained.  Your friend should go to a major medical complex (such as Mayo clinic, etc) in order to get a doctor who even understands YNS.  If you are in NC, maybe there is a facility in Research Triangle Park.

[poopy_bird]

does she smoke ? that could be the casue
if not ask a doctor