Today I'd like to share my positive experience with radiotherapy performed at the Strahlenzentrum Hamburg under the supervision of Prof. S.

As I had posted previously, I am a 53 year old male diagnosed with Dupuytren's disease at the age of 44 (first nodule in the pinky of my right hand). This progressed slowly until last year over the course of a few months the pinky quickly contracted to approximately 20 degrees. I shared my very positive experience with PNF/NA in Paris at

http://www.dupuytren-online.info/Forum_E...ris-0_1890.html.

Unfortunately I started to feel recurring tension and very slight contracture again after just 5 months. I have been able to keep the contracture in check and barely pass the table top test wearing a light, self-made splint at night made from a bike glove which I describe at

http://www.dupuytren-online.info/Forum_E...int-0_2023.html.

3 months ago, about a week after I injured the thumb of my left hand with a knife cut, I started noticing growth of the then small and only nodule in my left hand, also in the pinky, as well as a first cord there and a new one between the cut thumb and the index finger. I believe these to be directly linked to the collagen produced in the healing process of my cut. So I emailed Prof. S. in Hamburg with a marked-up photo and a description, and received confirmation directly from the doctor a few hours later, confirming I was a candidate for RT and inviting me to make an appointment with his secretary which I did the same day by email.

So 6 weeks ago I flew to Hamburg for five days where I filled several pages of a questionnaire about my health and DD history and the doctor examined my hand and feet. As anticipated he found several small nodules more in my hands than I had felt myself. I am attaching the picture he took and emailed to my address instantly for later reference.

To my surprise he recommended not to treat the left hand yet, but to treat the right hand which based on what I had read here I thought to be too far progressed for radiotherapy. According to Prof. S. the hand would have to undergo surgery eventually if not treated with radiotherapy as unlike my doctor in France he didn't believe PNF/NA could be repeated successfully often enough to correct the contracture effectively.

I followed the recommendation and started the first of two rounds of 5 radiation sessions immediately. As others have described in this forum, the Center typically gives you an appointment for the initial examination on late Monday morning, so that from Europe you may be able to fly in the same day and then back out again on Friday afternoon after stopping by, without an appointment, daily Tuesday to Friday and a final consultation with the doctor and payment (if not covered by German health insurance) on Thursday or Friday.

So my right hand was treated with 5 x 3 Gy during this first round for about 30 to 40 seconds. The radiation area is marked up on the attached photo.

For the first 4 weeks I didn't really notice any effect at all. But then the exposed area, especially the thin skin between the fingers, started to dry, itch and turn slightly red like a sunburn, see second photo attached (day 33). I started to apply the recommended moisturizing cream with Urea, which helped. The itching and redness ceased after one week while the lines are darker than on my other hand, but most importantly the cord and nodules have significantly decreased in size already, when I still have another round to go in six weeks (3 months after the first).

So I am very pleased with my RT treatment and the results so far. We may have to revise the conventional wisdom which we keep sharing here regarding the DD stages for which radiotherapy should be considered. Without the cut of my thumb I may have waited too long to have RT performed on my already contracted and corrected pinky. I plan to discuss with Prof. S. and share here the stages in which the treatment protocol is believed to be effective, when I see him again end of January.