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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes White Finger Nails?

Son - 14 years, has PKU, follows diet very well. I noticed in March his fingernails are white. His ped. ordered full cbc and everything came back normal. Saw his PKU Dr. at Riley in Indy yesterday for PKU checkup and I brought up his fingernails again b/c they really haven t changed. Today I got a call from her office and they want to do a blood test to check liver function. What would they be checking for specifically?
Sun, 9 Dec 2018
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Dermatologist 's  Response
Hi,

Sustained rise of serum phenylalanine greater than 20 mg % is diagnostic criteria in PKU. If increases these levels indicate bad prognosis. Indirectly it indicates the deficiency of phenylalanine hydtoxylase enzyme in the liver. So direct estimation of this enzyme also good indicator for PKU.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Regards,
Dr. Puvvula Kishore Kumar,
Dermatologist
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What Causes White Finger Nails?

Hi, Sustained rise of serum phenylalanine greater than 20 mg % is diagnostic criteria in PKU. If increases these levels indicate bad prognosis. Indirectly it indicates the deficiency of phenylalanine hydtoxylase enzyme in the liver. So direct estimation of this enzyme also good indicator for PKU. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further. Regards, Dr. Puvvula Kishore Kumar, Dermatologist