Do you usually pay attention to the changes in your hands? Most people probably care if their fingers are slender, if their nails are neat and clean... These do affect the beauty of our hands, but sometimes, changes in the hands also herald the arrival of some diseases.
Recently, a woman in Guangdong found that her hands had changed somewhat, her fingers and toes had become thicker and thicker, but because there were no other obvious symptoms, she did not pay much attention. By chance, she met a doctor who advised her to go to the hospital as soon as possible for a check-up.
Screenshot of Weibo
After the woman's medical examination, she found that there were about 4 centimeters of tumor in the lungs, which was diagnosed by the doctor as lung cancer.
Obviously it is a change of fingers, why is it associated with lung cancer? What is the problem with such an enlarged end of the finger? Let's take a look at what's going on today.
1
What is a clubbing finger?
The thickening of the ends of the fingers is medically called a clubbing finger, defined as a clubbing finger when the finger (toe) is expanded and appears drumstick-like or the basal angle between the proximal end of the nail and the soft tissue of the nail root ≥ 180 degrees. Clinically, clubbing fingers are more common than toes.
Clubbing refers to the body's chronic hypoxia, long-term hypoxia caused by metabolic disorders, hypoxia makes the terminal limb capillaries dilate, due to the end of the blood flow is abundant, soft tissue painless hyperplasia is obvious, and eventually the formation of limb hypertrophy, the end of the knuckles become thick and swollen, is the so-called clubbing finger.
2
Why lung cancer patients
Will there be a clubbing finger?
In patients with lung cancer, the mass compresses the airway and blood vessels, the body is in a chronic hypoxia state, and clubbing fingers may appear without long-term treatment.
3
What diseases may be indicated by the clubbing finger?
Many causes can lead to the appearance of clubbing, 75-80% of lung diseases, 10-15% of cardiovascular system diseases, other diseases and genetics also account for a certain proportion. The most common clinically alarming pestle fingers are mainly the following:
Clubbing refers to the presence of lung cancer if it appears in middle age or older, or has a long history of heavy smoking, or has a history of lung cancer in immediate family members, accompanied by chest pain, hemoptysis, cough of unknown causes, and requires high vigilance against lung cancer, and it is recommended to go to the respiratory department and thoracic surgery department in time;
If accompanied by long-term chronic cough, vomiting a lot of pus sputum, repeated hemoptysis or blood capillary in the sputum, it is necessary to be vigilant against pulmonary infectious diseases, such as bronchiectasis, lung abscess, etc., and it is recommended to go to the respiratory department;
If the clubbing finger appears from an early age, accompanied by cyanosis of the lips, hypoxia, squatting (a forced position, the child walks or plays with both legs flexed, crouches for a moment and then returns to normal walking), considering that there may be congenital heart disease, need to go to cardiology and cardiac surgery;
If accompanied by prolonged intermittent fever, enlarged spleen, bleeding spots in the skin, and embolism of limbs and limbs, it is necessary to be vigilant against infective endocarditis, which is a very serious infection and requires immediate hospitalization in the cardiology department;
Diseases of the digestive system are relatively rare in the presence of clubbing fingers, but cirrhosis should be vigilant when there is viral hepatitis or long-term heavy alcohol consumption, ascites, abdominal varicose veins, and yellow infection around the body.
4
How do I test for the presence of a clubbing finger?
Since the pestle finger has so much suggestive significance to us, how do we usually check whether there is a clubbing finger?
The first method: the fingers of the two hands are placed back to each other, and the end finger joints and fingers are brought together, if there is a small diamond-like gap at the base of the two fingers, it is normal; if this gap becomes smaller or disappears, it may be a pestle-like finger. If the above discomfort is accompanied by the above, it is necessary to seek medical attention promptly.
The second method: the upper angle measurement method, there is a base angle between the front of the finger, the nail surface and the terminal skin, the normal person this angle is less than 160 degrees, but the clubbing finger this angle is often greater than 180 degrees.
5
What should I do if I find a clubbing finger?
First, we need to clarify the concept that the presence of a clubbing finger does not equal a diagnosis of the disease. The pestle finger itself is relatively common, many people have clubbing fingers, the body is not uncomfortable, and the perfect examination does not find related diseases, which we do not have to worry too much about. The appearance of clubbing may indicate some disease, which may need to be examined if necessary.
Clinically, the treatment of clubbing is still based on the primary disease, when you find that you have a clubbing finger, you need to consider whether you have other discomforts with the body, cough, spitting, hemoptysis, chest tightness, chest pain, etc. of the respiratory system, whether the heart has precordial pain, whether the body has bleeding points and other common discomfort symptoms mentioned above, see the relevant department, improve the necessary examinations, and treat the cause accordingly. The fingers of the clubbing fingers themselves are not treated too much.
Source: Popular Science China (ID: Science_China)
Expert of this article: Wang Qian, Department of Infectious Diseases, First Hospital of Hebei Medical University, attending physician
This article was reviewed by Li Jiangtao, Deputy Chief Physician, Department iii of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Hebei Chest Hospital
Producer: Mou Yanqiu Huang Linhao
Editor: Gu Peng
Proofreader: Liang Tiantian Zhang Linglin