Clubbing

Clubbing of the digits is a cardinal sign of pulmonary disease. It is the finding of increased vascular connective tissue in the distal segments of the digits, which results in the characteristic enlargement of the tips of the digits and exaggerated curvature. Clubbing may occur in isolation, or it may be part of a syndrome called hypertrophic osteoarthropathy, in which periostosis (deposition of new bone) of long bones and joint pains also occur.

Pulmonology Tutorial

Patient 7

This is a middle-aged man with a congenital ventricular septal defect that was never corrected, ultimately resulting in Eisenmenger’s syndrome with cyanosis and massive digital clubbing.