Plantar Fibromatosis: An Immunohistochemical and Ultrastructural Study

Abstract

The analogies between plantar fibromatosis and Du-puytren's disease (palmar fibromatosis) are well known. The latter is clinically more frequent and has been the object of extensive immunohistochemical and ultra-structural studies, with a view to investigating its patho-genesis. By contrast, such data on plantar fibromatosis are quite scarce. A histochemical, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural study was performed on nodule tissue from six patients who were subjected to total fasciectomy for plantar fibromatosis. The study of myo-fibroblasts revealed features suggestive of their fibro-blastic origin and evidenced a cytoskeleton and an extracellular filamentous system that could enable myofibroblasts to generate and exert the intracellular forces that contribute to the contraction of the aponeu-rosis. These aspects are similar to those observed in Dupuytren's disease and seem to lend support to the theory that the two diseases are expressions of the same disorder.