ABSTRACT

Background:

Essential hypertension is a public health problem with high mortality and morbidity. The majority of the follow-up and treatment of patients can be conducted in primary care health institutions. Nail is the skin extension, which can be examined easily and in a practical way. We aimed to research the nail findings in patients with hypertension, as essential hypertension can also uptake small arteries and their findings can be seen on the nails.

Material methods:

152 patients who use and do not use medication and 61 healthy controls were included in the study.

Results:

Splinter hemorrhage was significantly higher in the patients with hypertension compared to the healthy group. We detected that splinter hemorrhage, total leukonychia and onychomycosis were decreased with medication use.

Conclusion:

As a result, we think that the nail examination is inexpensive and practical method for detecting the peripheral uptake of the disease in the patients with essential hypertension and that it can be used in the follow-up of the treatment.