Search
Close this search box.

Blog

Dupuytren’s Diathesis

What is Dupuytren’s Diathesis? Diathesis is a medical term meaning tendency toward a condition. One way of describing a person with Dupuytren’s diathesis is that they have more of whatever Dupuytren’s is. Diathesis usually means more aggressive Dupuytren’s: earlier age of onset; more fingers involved; more often bilateral; faster progression;

Read More »

Needle Aponeurotomy and Xiaflex compared

Xiaflex (Collagenase) has finally been approved by the FDA for the treatment of Dupuytren’s contracture. When work began on the development of collagenase to treat Dupuytren’s contracture, the bar was pretty low: anything better than fasciectomy in terms of either safety or efficacy would be a great advance. No other

Read More »

Growing bent fingers straight

Two things are needed for people dealing with Dupuytren’s: a way to reverse or restore fingers back to their natural state and a way to prevent progression/recurrence. For the former, progress is being made; the latter remains the elusive goal of a cure. Dupuytren’s is a shrinking process. The ideal

Read More »

Cellular biomechanics are the key to Dupuytren’s.

Dupuytren’s is truly a biomechanical process, and the ultimate process has to do with the way that fibroblasts and myofibroblasts attach to each other and physically attach to strands of collagen and other components of the tissue matrix which surrounds them. An investigation into the complex junction of living cells,

Read More »

Fasciectomy: Unsafe at any Speed?

Fasciectomy, invented by Goyrand just a few years after Dupuytren’s initial demonstration of open fasciotomy, has been the main treatment option for Dupuytren’s for nearly 200 years. There have been many refinements, but the central theme of removing fascia is unchanged. With so much time and experience, one might assume

Read More »

Frozen Shoulder, Dupuytren’s Cousin

Dupuytren’s contracture and frozen shoulder share similar biology and many people with one condition will eventually develop the other. Frozen shoulder differs from Dupuytren’s in that it is typically a painful condition with rapid onset, is more common in women and usually runs a limited course. It is similar in

Read More »

Flare reaction after fasciectomy for Dupuytren’s

Flare reaction refers to a disproportionate degree of swelling, pain and stiffness developing after surgery for Dupuytren’s contracture. Although commonly known, there is relatively little published on this. Flare shares some features with reflex sympathetic dystrophy, another poorly understood condition which is seen more often after Dupuytren’s surgery than other

Read More »

Dupuytren’s and Associated Conditions

Dupuytren’s is associated with three conditions, Ledderhose, Peyronie’s and frozen shoulder. These all share a similar biology at a cellular level. Dupuytren’s is also associated with other conditions, such as diabetes, alcoholism, epilepsy, advanced HIV for reasons which are less clear. Is Dupuytren’s a risk factor for some of these

Read More »

Genes, enzymes and Dupuytren’s: the alphabet name game.

A proteinase is an enzyme which breaks down proteins. Metalloproteinases (MPs) are proteinases with a molecular structure and function involves a metal atom, usually zinc. Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs) are MPs which act outside of cells, in the tissue matrix. Human collagenases are MMPs which break down different types of collagen.

Read More »