A Rarely Seen Side Effect of Sulfasalazine: Yellowish Colour in Toenails
Ibrahim Tekeoğlu
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey.
Sinem Sağ *
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey.
Ayhan Kamanli
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey.
Mustafa Serdar Sağ
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey.
Teoman Erdem
Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Sulfasalazine (SLZ) was the slow acting medication most often used to treat patients with ankylosing spondylitis whose symptoms were not adequately controlled with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, exercise, and rehabilitative therapies. Sulfasalazine is an older generation anti-rheumatic drug first synthesized in the 1940s as a combination of an antibiotic (sulfa pyridine) and an nonsteroidal anti‑inflammatory drug (5-aminosalicylic acid). Most patients can take sulfasalazine with few side effects. In this study we present a rarely seen side effect of SLZ on a patient with ankylosing spondylitis whose toenails turned gradually yellow in two years duration.
Keywords: Ankylosing spondylitis, sulfasalazine, yellowish toenails.