[Jaccoud's arthropathy. Surgical results of 41 hands]

Jaccoud's arthropathy, which was first described in 1869, is a rare syndrome that is characterized by a painless or relatively painless deformity of the digits II, II, IV and V with a dislocation of the extensor tendons into the metacarpal valley. When the thumb is affected, a Z deformity is observed. The present analysis was based on 40 patients (56 hands, 41 of which were operated on over the period 1989 to 2001). A distinction should be made between Jaccoud's disease following a known inflammatory arthropathy (23 hands; average patient age 55 years) and the idiopathic form of the disease (18 hands, average patient age 70 years). From a clinical point of view, a classification of the deformities is needed so that appropriate surgical treatment can be determined. In the present study, four groups were therefore proposed, in groups I and III the realignment to centre of the extensor tendons of the metacarpophalangeal joint and joint stabilization yielded 83% positive results. In groups II and IV the results were only 66% good after Swanson implant. The pathogenesis of Jaccoud's disease has not yet been determined, but now that more information has become available and a better analysis can be made of its various clinical and anatomopathological charasteristics, these should assist in defining precise surgical indications.