Baron Guillaume Dupuytren (1777-1835). Wikipedia says he’s a French anatomist and military surgeon who, though he treated Napoleon Bonaparte’s haemorrhoids, is best known today for the eponymic Dupuytren’s contracture [DC] that he described in 1831. DC’s a condition affecting the hand and one or more fingers. The fascia in the palm first thickens and contracts progressively, eventually causing the finger(s) to flex towards the palm. It mainly affects the ring finger and/or little finger. It progresses slowly, and is painless. The cause is unknown. There are several risk factors. I have early DC – i.e. thickening in my left palm in line with my ring finger. So far my finger hasn’t started to curl. I have three risk factors, i.e. I’m a male over 40 with a positive family history. Some 60-70% of those with DC have a genetic predisposition. Three of my great uncles (i.e. my paternal grandmother’s brothers) had it. Treatment’s only needed when the curled fingers reduce hand function. Surgery’s the standard treatment. I’ve been mentally preparing for surgery in a few years time. But this article in the New England Journal of Medicine three weeks ago describes how collagenase injection – i.e. an office-based, nonsurgical treatment that dissolves fibrous tissue –reduced contractures and improved the range of motion of affected fingers. That’s great news for me. And many, many others.
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