We have looked at the incidence of Dupuytren's disease in alcoholics, those with non-alcoholic liver disease and a control population. Both alcoholic patients and those with non-alcohol related liver disease had a higher rate (28% and 22% respectively) than the controls (8%), but this did not quite reach statistical significance (p greater than 0.05). In addition we found no Dupuytren's disease in 50 Egyptian patients with bilharzia and no consistent biochemical abnormalities in 134 patients with significant Dupuytren's disease. We conclude that alcoholics probably do have a higher rate of Dupuytren's disease and that this effect is largely due to the liver disease caused by alcohol abuse, but that the genetic factors are of greater aetiological importance.

Fracture of the lateral process of the talus is rare but can be mistaken for a simple ankle sprain'. A case with normal conventional radiographs is presented to draw attention to this diagnosis in the resistant ankle sprain, and to highlight some of the problems that may be encountered with treatment.

The incidence of Dupuytren's disease amongst the residents of two epileptic centres was found to be 12.0% in one and 38.1% in the other. The overall incidence at the second was significantly higher than a control population (16.0%) and this difference was particularly apparent in patients over 50 years old. The distribution of the Dupuytren's disease was found to be very similar to that of non-epileptic patients. At both centres, the disease process was more severe, with an increased incidence of contractures. Drug therapy was not clearly implicated in the aetiology of this condition.