Peyronie's disease (IPP)

Peyronie disease (Peyronies), also known as Morbus Peyronie or Induratio Penis Plastica (IPP), results in a bent penis due to collagen accumulation and tissue contraction. Possibly this is due to a genetic disposition. IPP can appear quickly while Dupuytren's contracture typically develops over 5 - 10 years. It also seems that self-healing, i.e. spontaneous healing without treatment, is more frequent for IPP than for Dupuytren or Ledderhose (though self-healing cases might possibly not have been Peyronies). About 15 - 20 percent of patients suffering from Peyronie's also suffer from Dupuytren's contracture (abstract_Carrieri), thus supporting the concept of a common or related root cause. While Dupuytren's disease for a while was (wrongly) suspected to be a "Viking disease" Peyronie's disease seems to be spread world-wide, e.g. also in China abstract_Liu or Iran abstract_Shirazi.

Therapies for IPP are only partially similar to those of Morbus Dupuytren, for example shock waves and ultrasonic treatment seem to help some IPP patients but are not very efficient for Dupuytren's contracture or Ledderhose, while radiation therapy is in some countries applied for IPP as well as for Dupuytren disease. Injection of collagenase has been approved for Dupuytren's contracture and is in trial for IPP. Therapies of IPP are not discussed in further detail on our web site. When judging the success rate of a therapies, the natural disease progression needs to be understood and compared to, see Grasso M, Lania C, Blanco S, and Limonta G "The natural history of Peyronie's disease" Archivos españoles de urología 60 (2007) p 326-31 natural_Peyronies.

For surgical intervention the so-called Nesbit operation is most frequently being used to treat Peyronie's disease link. It shortens the not affected side of the penis, thus achieving a straighter penis but typically also shortening its length. Removing the collagen plaque is an alternative that requires skin replacement but promises to not shorten the overall length of the penis.

Rehman et al. report a limited positive effect of injected Verapamil: "intralesional injection of calcium channel blocker may be a reasonable approach in some selected patients for the treatment of Peyronie’s disease with noncalcified plaque and penile angulation of less than 30°", Adult Urulogy 54 (1998) p 620-626 full_text. The more extensive and more recent study of Shirazi et al. compared intralesional administration of Verapamil with a control group and did not find any significant positive effect of Verapamil "Effect of intralesional verapamil for treatment of Peyronie's disease: a randomized single-blind, placebo-controlled study" Int Urol Nephrol. Feb 2009 (Epub abstract).

Connection with Dupuytren disease

Collagen accumulation and tissue contraction are similar to Dupuytren's disease, therefore Peyronie disease is potentially a related disease. In the literature some authors indicate that IPP is more likely caused by mini-inflammations and thus is different from Dupuytren's contracture. Other authors consider this as an aspect common to both diseases. IPP can appear quickly while Dupuytren's contracture typically develops over 5 - 10 years. It also seems that self-healing, i.e. spontaneous healing without treatment, is more frequent for IPP than for Dupuytren or Ledderhose (though self-healing cases might possibly not have been Peyronies). Overall, Peynie disease might be related with Dupuytren disease but it might also just be similar.

Links for Peyronie's disease

An overview of the many current treatments of IPP is e.g. on emedicine. For more information on IPP/Morbus Peyronie, please refer to the very active forum of the US Peyronie's Disease Society http://www.peyroniesforum.net/. Associated to this forum is also a web site www.peyroniessociety.org.

The British site http://www.peyronies-disease.co.uk/ features information on treatments and blogs on personal experience. Yahoo hosts an active group at ipp_yahoo_forum. http://www.curepeyronies.net/ is a non-profit site informing patients on therapies and root causes of IPP, also trying to raise funding for research. thebentnail.blogspot.com is a blog on Peyronie's. 

 


Page last modified: 12/28/2016