Abstract
Hand changes in juvenile diabetics are not so rare as is usually supposed. A longterm case of juvenile diabetic cheiroarthropathy, characterized by marked involvement of the interphalangeal joints of both hands, flexion of the fingers, and stunted growth, was observed.
The patient was a 22-year--old woman 141 cm tall. At the age of 6 she experienced a diabetic coma and was diagnosed as having diabetes mellitus. Since then she had been receiving insulin. Control of blood glucose was poor, and her diabetes was complicated by diabetic neuropathy, retinopathy, and nephropathy. At the age of 24 she died of renal insufficiency caused by diabetic nephropathy.
Her liver was palpable 1 finger breadth below the right costal margin. Only the interphalangeal joints of her hands showed articular involvement, other joints showing no abnormalities. Dupuytren's contracture was not present.
An X-ray film of her hands revealed slight atrophic changes but no articular changes. There was no family history of diabetes mellitus or stunted growth.
