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; more recurrence problems. The hallmark is developing more than one member of the Dupuytren family: Dupuytren’s; knuckle pads; Ledderhose; Peyronie’s; frozen shoulder. More conditions means more aggressive biology. People with Dupuytren’s diathesis are more likely to have ancestors with Dupuytren’s and are more likely to pass Dupuytren’s on to their children than people with only Dupuytren’s. In this article, “Dupuytren’s Diathesis: A Case Report” (full text: http://www.dupuytrens.org/DupPDFs/1964_Lettin.pdf), the difficulties experienced by a patient with Dupuytren’s diathesis are described, as well as complcations from both surgery and radiation treatment. Diathesis is a persistent reminder that Dupuytren’s is a systemic disorder which has many forms, and that we need to continue work to find a biological cure.
