it is a loss of the natural angle of the nail bed that is presented with a raise in the nail bed

Clubbing is a thickening on the nail , which results in loss of the nail bed angle.

It is usually an endocarditis of chronic disease.It is seen with chronic lung diseases such as bronchitis, emphysema or bronchectiesis.Or heart disease such as endocarditis(inflammation of the heart muscle). Other conditions are bowel inflammatory disease known as Chron's disease. Clubbing is seeing also with some cancers , like lung cancer and gut cancers. Clubbing is seen mostly in patients with chronic respiratory problems.

Clubbing is enlargement of the fingertips (or toes) due to proliferation of connective tissue between the fingernail and the bone. Diagnosis is based on an increase in the profile angle of the nail as it exits the finger (to > 176掳) or on an increase in the phalangeal depth ratio (to > 1) (see Fig. 1: Approach to the Patient With Pulmonary Symptoms: Measuring finger clubbing.). 鈥淪ponginess鈥?of the nail bed beneath the cuticle also suggests clubbing. Clubbing is most commonly observed in lung cancer but is an important sign of chronic pulmonary disease, such as cystic fibrosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; it occurs less commonly in cyanotic heart disease, chronic infection (eg, infective endocarditis), stroke, inflammatory bowel disease, and cirrhosis. Clubbing occasionally occurs with osteoarthropathy and periostitis (primary or hereditary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy); in this instance, clubbing may be accompanied by skin changes, such as hypertrophied skin on the dorsa of the hands (pachydermoperiostosis), seborrhea, and coarse facial features. Digital clubbing can also occur as a benign hereditary abnormality; benign clubbing can be distinguished from pathologic clubbing by the absence of pulmonary symptoms or disease and by patient report of clubbing from an early age.

See the link below for more text and pictures. It is usually associated to chronic respiratory diseases, whatever their cause is (certainly not "endocarditis"!!!!!).

The most frequent cause is chronic bronchitis (smoking related or not) Clubbing is a result of chronic lack of oxygen to the extremities. It also is related to a loss of venous return. Both are a key sign of COPD