TITLE:
Anomalous muscles in carpal tunnel associated with neurovascular variations: Case report and brief review
AUTHORS:
Nabil Eid, Yuko Ito, Yoshinori Otsuki
KEYWORDS:
Carpal Tunnel; Gantzer’s Muscle; Median Nerve; Nerve Compression Syndromes
JOURNAL NAME:
Forensic Medicine and Anatomy Research,
Vol.2 No.1,
January
24,
2014
ABSTRACT: Anomalous muscles in carpal tunnel (CT) may cause carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), and may be also associated with neurovascular abnormalities, altering the diagnosis and surgical interventions for CTS. The authors report a case of bilateral Gantzer’s muscles (GMs) inserted into the tendons of flexor digitorum profundus within the CTs in an old male cadaver. The left GM was associated with enlarged lumbrical muscles in the CT and bifid median nerve (MN) communicating with ulnar nerve in the hand. The right GM was associated with perforation of MN branches in the hand by superficial palmar arch. This unreported coexistence of anomalous GMs and the associated neurovascular variations may have clinical relevance to etiology, diagnosis and treatment of CTS.