You are examining an unconscious patient from another region and notice Beau's lines, a transverse groove across all of her nails, about 1 cm from the proximal nail fold. What would you do next?

Question

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These lines can provide valuable information about previous significant illnesses, some of which are forgotten or are not able to be reported by the patient. Because the fingernails grow at about 0.1 mm per day, you would ask about an illness 100 days ago. This patient may have been hospitalized for endocarditis or may have had another significant illness which should be sought. Trauma to all 10 nails in the same location is unlikely. Dietary intake at this time would not be related to this finding. Do not assume a finding is necessarily related to a patient's culture unless you have good knowledge of that culture.

You Are Examining an Unconscious Patient from Another Region and Notice