I came across an article the other say that I have been
meaning to cover since but have just not found the time to do so. It is of
particular interest as I am in the process of interviewing a patient who has
had Xiapex for their Dupuytren’s and would like to have it for Ledderhose but
it’s not available.
So onto the article –
So the news was that there has been a follow up from cases
where Xiapex has been used and the outcome looks to be promising. For those not
in the know Xiapex is the collagenase (an enzyme that breaks down collagen)
that is in use to try and dissolve the troublesome tissue that is associated
with Dupuytren’s as this is mainly composed of collagen.
The results showed that the degree of improvement seen (in
terms of angle of contracture) was on average 36.6 degrees and that there was an 84%
improvement in range of motion. In total
over 500 patients were monitored and only an average of 1.08 injections
were required per joint compared to 1.5 in the clinical trials, this is a big
advantage in terms of cost as only required one injection would be much cheaper.
Interestingly there were also results coming in about
recurrence in a three year period, this is important because this diseases do
have a high tendency to come back. What did they find? Well they saw that only
35% of patients treated with Xiapex for this disease reoccurred. Having a 3rd
of people have it come back in less than 3 years is not what the people that
have these diseases want to hear as it was kind of hoped that there would be a
better treatment that removes it.
Overall though it is good to hear that for a lot of patients
this treatment is working and that it is not coming back in a really short period
of time, after all for some surgery patients it has practically come back by
the time the bandages have come off.
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