Francois de LaPeyronie (1978-1747): the man and the disease he described

Abstract

The evaluation of the treatments for Peyronie's disease is difficult; the natural history is such that the plaque may resolve spontaneously [82]. In 1973, Alec Badenoch made this comment and noted that no treatment had then been evaluated in a controlled clinical study [83]. The origin of the eponym is vague and the disease remains an enigma. To this day, the treatment can be difficult. It is not surprising that so many treatments have been tried and so much dogma written. Indeed, in 1903, William Johnson Walsham, the famous surgeon from St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, and author of the standard surgical text book of the day, wrote; "... if treatment of the plaque with iodides is unsuccessful ... or if the induration progresses ... then the whole penis must be promptly amputated!' [44]. We no longer believe this dictuml.