Diabetic hand syndrome

Diabetic hand syndrome is a condition affecting about 30% of patients with insulin-requiring juvenile diabetes. Characteristic findings in this syndrome are mild- to- moderately severe joint contractures of the fingers, particularly at the proximal interphalangeal joints in the ring and small fingers, and thickening of the skin of the dorsum of the hand. There is no evidence of palmar fascial thickening or Dupuytren's contracture. Occasionally other joints may be involved, such as the wrists, elbows, hips, knees, and toes. In the case presented in this report light and electron microscopic studies showed that the disease presents aspects similar to those of other "fibrotic diseases" as described by Kisher and Speer. Surgical treatment was only partially beneficial in this patient.