[Historical considerations on La Peyronie's disease. Very little has changed!].

Peyronie's disease on plastic induration of the corpus cavernosum was described by La Peyronie in 1743. Initial clinical descriptions, based on 5 cases, were extremely clear. A surprising similarity is seen between comments on pathology and etiopathogenicity made in the past and current concepts. As early as 1886 it was suggested that inflammation was followed by fibrosis. Similarly, it has been known from 1850 that diabetes and Dupuytren's disease are frequently associated with Peyronie's disease. Although surgical removal of nodules and the use of a prosthesis were not mentioned, a thesis by Merle in 1899 suggested that treatment should consist of contralateral plication to reduce the effect of deviation of the fold resulting from the disease itself.