Missionary encounters extremely bizarre skin condition in Eastern Europe

A friend of mine has a relative who is a missionary in Eastern Europe. He recently shared photographs and the story of a man he is caring for, who has an extremely bizarre skin condition. The man has keratin-like matter growing out of the skin on hands and feet, which started when he was young, and very slowly continues to spread and grow. The areas begin as skin lesions, and the matter sprouts from those spots. The growths are very difficult to remove, and the man has so far just had to learn to live with it. There are a few medical precedents to this man's case, but nothing is certain until more tests are done. In the meantime, the missionary is helping to make life easier for the man. UPDATE: Here is the latest on this situation.

The missionary writes...

"I found this man, and other than his hands and feet, he looked and seemed in good health. As best as I could gather these growths began when he was 14 years old, and began in the area of his wrists. The skin on his wrists and the back of his hands resembles that of a hedgehog - hundreds of spike like growths. The problem is much more severe on his palms and fingers where the growths resemble very much that of nails infected with a fungus. The growths have that same texture, smell and feel. I cut a number of the largest growths off, most of witch did not bleed. Some of the smaller growths did bleed a small amount and he seemed much more sensitive to the cutting of the smaller growths. I soaked his hands first in 3 WEA (phenyl mercuric nitrate) and then began. The 3 WEA did help to soften the growths but they still took time to cut through, or sand down, but it worked just as it does with these types of nails on normal hands or feet. I was able to pull many of the smaller growths off applying steady pressure and slowly pulling. But after 1.5 hrs there was not a noticeable change as there are hundreds and hundreds of growths. There was also quite a bit of dissolved material in the bucket of 3 WEA after we finished.

On his feet I did not cut anything, but tried two different solutions of salicylic acid, one a bit weaker than the other, and also a freeze spray wart remover.

I met his mother and brother (they all live together) and their skin looked very normal. They all eat the same foods and he and his brother sleep in the same bed.

It has grown slowly but steadily but has not spread to other parts of his body, just a bit below his knees on his legs. He has other skin growth (many would be skin tags) on his face, and some moles on his chest. The growths are not as bad on his feet but I was told that more than 10 years ago many we cauterized off his feet, and they did not return. I think with repeated soaking and cutting most could be removed but other parts will I think need to be burned away in some form."

I emailed the missionary a few more questions:

Is there a medical term for this man's condition?
Doctors here have called it Lewandowsky-Lutz, though I have not been able to find any pictures of this condition to compare.

Has any analysis of the matter growing off of his skin been done?
There was 18 years ago, when they came up with the name of what they thought it was. He has not been treated since then.

When do you understand that this started with him?
He is now 38 and it started when he was 14, on one wrist. He never returned for treatments as he felt the first cauterizing was effective in that the growths did not return to that area, but felt they grew more quickly in other areas.

Does the man have any other unusual symptoms?
He appears healthy other than the growths. He has 15 skin tags on his face, and a wart in one ear.

Have there been any theories about this man's past, something he might have done, ingested, or places he's been to... that may have caused it?
As he says he did not do or eat anything his brother did not do or eat, and his brother appears to be perfectly normal, not yet. I am currently showing the pictures to veterinarians, as I am also considering that maybe this is something he got from an animal (pig, sheep, cow).

Does it look like the man's condition is treatable or curable?
Curable, I don't know. But with ongoing thorough cleaning, creams, soaking and cutting - it will be much better for him.

More photos (click for larger view):

 

Comments

[jim]

Fantastic!

Is this considered doing God's work, or undoing it?

[Brian]

I used to work in a medical library where I would come upon texts with photos of bizarre disorders, such as the now-infamous humongous testicles in the wheelbarrow or the especially disturbing to me 'nose melting away.' I began to fear that one could only get these extraordinary diseases if you KNEW of them. This is a long-winded way of saying, thanks a lot Mark -- something else to worry about!

[illlich]

I suspect this is genetic, perhaps not common, perhaps not even "hereditary" really, but a new mutation. If so, he is stuck with this, the same way "lobster boy" and his family were.

But what the hell do i know. I certainly hope I'm wrong and that there is a cure.

Must be tough to play the violin like this.

[joe nathan]

while i AM shuttering at the images i still find this very intriguing.

[bartelby]

I think it might be an issue with his immune system. It could be claused by some microorganism that for most other folks rarely causes trouble.

???

[lupica]

My mellow = totally harshed. I shall never sleep again. Oy!

[Rob]

These growths look very similar to ones caused by the Shope papillomavirus strain in rabbits. This virus also causes keratin growths that eventually hinder the rabbit's ability to eat/breath, thus killing the host. The horn-like projections are the origin of jackelope stories and sightings. This may well be some unidentified strain of papillomavirus specific to humans.

[J B]

Similar condition?

http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~hollidac/jacksforreal.html

It seems to mainly affect rabbits... but you never know.

[Dick Dynamite]

One kind of has to wonder how it is to be this person. I mean, do the growths on his hands still feel, like do the nerves still feel, or what?

Also, is it just me, or do his hands and feet have a very "Ben 'The Thing' Grimm" look to them? I'm not making fun, but I'm intrigued.

[Holland Oats]

Eerily reminiscent of Stephen King's stint as Jordy Verrill in "Creepshow"!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9itsxhtA8k8

[yragentman]

Generally, I am pretty immune to disgusting pictures but for some reason (maybe inherent vanity/fear) this really makes my stomach churn.

"somewhere in Eastern Europe", downwind from Chernobyl mayhaps?

[Dave]

Just out of curiosity (not looking for his address, or even his town/city), what country does this fellow live in?

This isn't anywhere in Belarus or Ukraine, close to Chernobyl, by any chance??

[Chris]

I just want to know how he put on that sweater.

[Buddy Max]

it is rare that anything on the interneet makes me feel ill anymore, that infamous goatse.cx image (and the others in that picture set, some of which are worse) only makes me laugh. but THIS did make me feel ill.

poor guy; not only is it difficult for him to pick up girls, but he cant even masturbate (jeez-- i hope this condition isn't prevalent on his. . . y'know.)

that papilloma virus idea sounds the most promising-- although that also brings up the possibilty that it's trasmittable. ouch.

[Mark M]

Search on the web for Lewandowsky-Lutz came up with this:
http://www.dermis.net/dermisroot/es/14286/diagnose.htm
Its in spanish, but it does refer to "ENFERMEDAD DE
LEWANDOWSKY-LUTZ" with a picture of papules on the wrist
which is consistent with the description given in the
link on the WFMU page defining Lewandowsky-Lutz:
http://www.whonamedit.com/synd.cfm/1422.html

Since these two pictures look nothing alike, can't see how
it could in fact be L-L.

[Mark Allen]

Dave -

Those involved allowed me to share it only if I promised they could keep their anonymity and privacy - but I can tell you it is nowhere near the Chernobyl location.

Mark

[Jf]

poor guy. It must be real strange to have an 'unknown' and 'unique' condition. Plus it must be rather difficult to perform onanism.

[Niels Olson]

Hello, I'm a medical student and I've tossed this to a derm-wannabe in my class. It looks possible enough, and I've heard of a similar case, so I started the Wikipedia article. Can these photographs be submitted to Wikipedia under their GFDL license?

[Tommy]

The spanish article linked above has an english version at:
http://www.dermis.net/dermisroot/en/14286/diagnose.htm

[Messenger]

God has a bad sense of humor

[ag]

I have seen Shope papillomavirus in rabbits and goats. It looks exactly the same as the growths on this fellow. As the growths are the result of a viral infection only an ant-viral will work as treatment - antibiotics will have little to no effect. Has he ever been treated with an anti-viral (ie... Cidofovir)?

[Dan]

Looks a bit like the results of "Shopes Papillomavirus" in these rabbits.
http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~hollidac/jacksforreal.html

[Kirsten]

Have you (or the missionary) considered contacting the Dermatology department at a prominent medical school? They would probably be sufficiently fascinated to see such a rare case as to perhaps give travel money for the man to visit or for a faculty dermatologist to visit him - and provide treatment. I know that in cases of very rare medical conditions (like fetus in fetu), the academic researchers/physicians are so eager to see a rare case that they'll send someone over.

[JC]

I wonder if this poor fella has cholesteatoma, too (non-cancerous tumors in the ears).

[Robert K]

More than likely, my guess is this is genetic and is a mutation of his skin cells causing the growth of nails, basically, they are possibly a form of tumor, since it's an uncontrollable growth of cells which are not specific to the body. He probably needs x-rays to identify the layering of how thick and weather he still has blood vessels under all that growth. If so, it can possibly be fixed, he might have to have the skin on his hand removed and replaced with skin graphs, possibly the first of many times intentional burning will have to occur to destroy the afflicted cells.