Anomalous muscles in carpal tunnel associated with neurovascular variations: Case report and brief review

Nabil Eid, Yuko Ito, Yoshinori Otsuki

Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Division of Life Sciences, Osaka Medical College, Osaka, Japan.

DOI: 10.4236/fmar.2014.21003                

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.

Keywords

Carpal Tunnel; Gantzer’s Muscle; Median Nerve; Nerve Compression Syndromes

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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