Pathology of "knuckle pads". Study of four cases.

Histological study of four cases of knuckle pads. The main lesion is a fibroblastic proliferation which developes into dense fibrosis. It is analogous to that found in Dupuytren's contracture or Ledderhose's disease, with which knuckle pads are often associated. This histological feature and the clinical characteristics suggest a nosological entity of nodules situated at the back of the fingers, as a distinct form of fibromatoses and help to delineate knuckle pads from an abarticular manifestation of inflammatory or degenerative rheumatism.