Association of Terry Nails With Liver Cirrhosis.

Introduction: We looked at the association between Terry nails and liver cirrhosis in an ambulatory population from hepatology and gastroenterology clinics.

Methods: We prospectively investigated the prevalence and determinants of Terry nails in 1,000 consecutive patients from hepatology and gastroenterology clinics at 2 institutions between May 2016 and February 2020.

Results: A total of 117 subjects manifested Terry nails, with a 25.6% prevalence in patients with cirrhosis. When adjusted for age, heart failure, diabetes mellitus type 2, and chronic liver disease, cirrhosis was the only significant correlate (odds ratio 5.7 [95% confidence interval 3.3-9.8]), irrespective of liver disease etiology, with a strong association with hepatic fibrosis stage (P < 0.0001).

Discussion: Sensitivity and specificity of Terry nails for cirrhosis (25.8%, 92.7%) was similar to palmar erythema but less than spider angioma.