Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva in an Adult Indian Male

Following its first description by Guy Patin in 1692 as a disease that turned a woman into wood, Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva has maintained its low profile that too mainly in textbooks and rarely does one encounter a live walking individual affected by this entity. The hallmarks of this deadly disease are the short size of only the big toes and uninhibited progressive ossification of soft tissues. It can have a sporadic occurrence or may even be inherited through autosomal dominant pattern and has a wide range of expression. A wrong clinical diagnosis exposes the patient to unnecessary surgical excision and even harmful radiotherapy.Hence a case of Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva in an adult Indian male is being reported here for the benefit of one and all. [Cukurova Med J 2014; 39(4.000): 927-931