BIOMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF NORMAL TENDONS, NORMAL PALMAR APONEUROSES, AND TISSUES FROM PATIENTS WITH DUPUYTRENS DISEASE SUBJECTED TO ELASTASE AND CHONDROITINASE TREATMENT

Normal tendons, normal palmar aponeuroses and palmar aponeuroses from patients with Dupuytren's disease were subjected to elastase or chondr oitinase treatment. Young's modulus was derived from the linear portio n of stress-strain graph. It showed the lowest value for the apparentl y normal palmar aponeuroses and the highest value for tendon samples. Elastase treatment caused an increase of extensibility and a reduction of Young's modulus of normal palmar aponeuroses and tendons, but not of contracture bands. In normal tendons, normal palmar aponeuroses and apparently normal palmar aponeuroses residual strain and hysteresis l oop increased significantly as a linear function of the amount of dige sted elastin. In contrast these biomechanical parameters were not affe cted significantly in contracture bands. In normal and apparently norm al areas incubation with chondroitinase ABC resulted in a significant increase of residual strain and, as opposed to elastase, a decrease of normalized hysteresis loop. In contracture bands, however, these biom echanical parameters remained unchanged.