Von During reports a curious case which he calls sclerodactylia
annularis ainhumoides. The patient was a boy about twelve years
old, born in Erzeroum, brought for treatment for scabies, and not
for the affection about to be described. A very defective history
led to the belief that a similar affection had not been observed
in the family. When he was six years old it began on the terminal
phalanges of the middle fingers. A myxomatous swelling attacked
the phalanges and effected a complete absorption of the terminal
phalanx. It did not advance as far as gangrene or exfoliation of
bone. At the time of report the whole ten fingers were involved;
the bones seemed to be thickened, the soft parts being indurated
or sclerosed. In the right index finger a completely sclerosed
ring passed around the middle phalanx. The nails on the absorbed
phalanges had become small and considerably thickened plates. No
analogous changes were found elsewhere, and sensation was
perfectly normal in the affected parts. There were no signs
whatever of a multiple neuritis nor of a leprous condition.
There is a rare and curious condition known as "deciduous skin"
or keratolysis, in which the owners possess a skin, which, like
that of a serpent, is periodically cast off, that of the limbs
coming off like the finger of a glove.
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