Fournier's disease. Report of a case and review of the literature.

We report a case of Fournier's gangrene affecting a 77-year-old man. The patient was found to have decompensated diabetes mellitus that had been ignored before the onset of the disease. Several authors have described earlier a dramatic, explosive disease, leading to severe prostration within a few hours. Most of the recent cases, like this patient, have had a more insidious course, with symptoms beginning several days before hospitalization. Forty-five days after surgical debridement under spinal anesthesia and daily local treatment the scrotum was completely healed. The etiology and pathogenesis of this infrequent disease are discussed.