Finger clubbing (also called drumstick fingers or watch glass fingers) is enlargement of the last joint with watch glass nails.
It is a phenomenon that occurs in many chronic diseases.
Possible causes of finger clubbing are listed in the table below:
| Pulmonary causes | Bronchiectasis Tuberculosis Pulmonary emphysema Lung and bronchial cancer Diffuse lung metastases Sarcoidosis Lung abscess Pleural empyema Cystic fibrosis Interstitial lung disease Mesothelioma of the pleura Arteriovenous fistula or malformation Pulmonary artery sclerosis |
| Heart disease | Congenital heart disease with right-to-left shunt Any disease characterized by chronic hypoxia Heart failure Subacute bacterial endocarditis Atrial myxoma Tetralogy of Fallot |
| Gastrointestinal disease | Malabsorption Crohn’s disease Ulcerative colitis Tropical sprue |
| Hepatobiliary disease | Cirrhosis, especially in primary biliary cholangitis Hepatic cancers Hepatopulmonary syndrome |
| Others | Graves’ disease (in this case known as thyroid acropachy) Idiopathic hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (also known as Marie-Bamberger syndrome or acropachy) Pachydermoperiostosis (Touraine-Solente-Golé syndrome) Familial and hereditary clubbing and “pseudoclubbing” (people of African descent often have what appears to be clubbing) Axillary artery aneurysm (in unilateral clubbing) |