musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders
Dupuytren Contracture
Symptoms and Signs of Dupuytren Contracture
The earliest manifestation is usually a tender nodule in the palm, most often near the little or ring finger; it gradually becomes painless. Next, a superficial cord forms and contracts and ultimately flexes the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints and interphalangeal joints of the fingers. The hand eventually becomes arched. The disease is occasionally associated with fibrous thickening of the dorsum of the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints (Garrod pads), Peyronie Disease (penile fibromatosis) in about 7 to 10% of patients, and rarely nodules on the plantar surface of the feet (plantar fibromatosis). Other types of flexion deformities of the fingers can also occur in diabetes, locked trigger fingers, an ulnar claw hand, systemic sclerosis, and chronic reflex sympathetic dystrophy, which need to be differentiated. 