Dupuytren's contracture; increased cellularity--proliferation, is there equality?

Dupuytren's disease is a chronic inflammatory process which causes contractures of the fingers by shortening and thickening the palmar fascia. During the proliferative phase, fibroblasts transform into myofibroblasts apparently under the influence of several different factors. The disease usually develops slowly, but in some patients it tends to develop aggressively. The pathogenesis of Dupuytren's disease remains unsolved. In this study, we analyzed some histological characteristics that seem to predict rapid recurrence.

21 patients were divided into two groups. In 11 patients the disease was classified as aggressive because it had recurred within two years after an operation. In 10 cases it was non-aggressive, as no recurrence had been seen. Five control samples were taken from healthy palmar aponeurosis. The differences in cellularity, collagen, Ki-67, MSA, alpha-SMA and tenascin between the specimens were analyzed using immunohistochemistry.

Alpha-SMA and Ki-67 were present more often in the aggressive specimens. Immunohistochemical stainings for macrophages and lymphocytes were negative.

There may be differences in the histology and/or immunohistochemical appearance of pathological palmar connective tissue cords in aggressive and normal Dupuytren's disease. Further studies are needed to elucidate the pathogenesis of this disease.