An increased frequency of carpal tunnel syndrome in sarcoidosis. Results of a study based on nerve conduction study

Abstract

Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease which affects the musculoskeletal system; however, its association with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) has been reported only rarely. In our study, we tried to determine the prevalence of CTS in our consecutive sarcoidosis patients based on their symptoms and nerve conduction study (NCS). Fifty-six patients (mean age: 45.2) who were followed up with the diagnosis of sarcoidosis at our center and who gave informed consent for NCS were included into the study. The patients were questionned for the presence of hand symptoms: paresthesia, pain, nocturnal paresthesia and/or pain, and, they underwent NCS. Ten (17.9%) patients had recurrent paresthesia, 12 (21.4%) had pain, and 8 (14.3%) had nocturnal paresthesia and/or pain. The results of NCS showed that 41% of the patients had findings compatible with CTS. Extrapulmonary involvement was significantly more frequent in these patients when compared to patients without CTS (p=0.04). Also, patients with CTS were older than the others and CTS-associated symptoms were more frequent in them although this was not significant (p>0.05). In this study, by performing NCS we detected quite a high prevalence of CTS in our sarcoidosis patients. The fact that most of the patients were asymptomatic was interesting.