[Considerations in a long-term study on progressive cranio-carpo-tarsal osteolysis (author's transl)].

A long-term study conducted in a female patient who is now 21 years old and who showed a disease pattern similar to cranio-carpo-tarsal dystrophia, investigated thoroughly by Liersch and Hoevels when the girl was 6 years old. It must be stated as a result of this long-term study that in our case, the osteolyses at the wristbone (carpalia) and tarsal bone remained progressive up to the onset of puberty. The radiological changes came to a standstill after puberty had set in; in fact, there was even a certain amount of clinical compensation of the radiologically visible defects during the years that followed. It seems that the disease pattern described here, is limited to the growth period of the patient. It was not possible to classify this disease pattern as belonging to a particular category, and its cause remains largely unknown. The author describes the disease pattern as an "essential" one.