Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018:50:28-31.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijscr.2018.07.025. Epub 2018 Jul 26.

Mass of the thenar eminence hiding idiopathic massive rice bodies formation with a compression of the median nerve: Case report and review of the literature

Fekhaoui Mohammed Reda  1 , Grimi Talal  2 , Boufettal Moncef  3 , Bassir Reda-Allah  3 , Lamrani Moulay Omar  2 , Berrada Mohammed Saleh  2
Affiliations

Mass of the thenar eminence hiding idiopathic massive rice bodies formation with a compression of the median nerve: Case report and review of the literature

Fekhaoui Mohammed Reda et al. Int J Surg Case Rep. 2018.

Abstract

Introduction: Rice bodies are described as fibrin bodies usually found among patients with inflammatory joint diseases, tuberculous arthritis, and tuberculous tenosynovitis, but they are rarely found among non-tuberculosis patients.

Case presentation: We report a case of a 69-year-old with a 2-year history of swelling and pain of the thenar eminence of the left hand with paresthesia in the territory of the median nerve. Surgical exploration revealed multiple rice bodies.

Discussion: Several authors have speculated on the nature of rice bodies. Their presence is highly suggestive of tuberculous tenosynovitis. One case of a primary brucellar tenosynovitis has been reported. In Morocco, brucellosis and tuberculosis remain a significant problem, with synovial chondromatosis and pigmented villonodular synovitis as differential diagnoses.

Conclusion: The patient had no history of tuberculosis, rheumatic disease, joint trauma, or infectious disease. Despite extensive evaluation, the etiology of the rice bodies could not be identified, and no underlying pathology was found.

Keywords: Case report; Hand; Median nerve; Rice body.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Clinical image showing the mass of the thenar’s lodge of the left hand.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Radiography of the hand and wrist showing a soft-tissue mass shadow without any apparent calcification.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Coronal and axial views of magnetic resonance images showing thickening of the finger flexor sheath on both sides of the carpal tunnel.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Intra-operative image showing multiple rice bodies.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Clinical image after 4 months.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Riese H. Die Reiskörperchen in tuberculös erkrankten Synovialsäcken. Deutsch. Z. Chir. 1895;42:l–99.
    1. Caughey E.D., Highton T.C. Components of the fibrinolytic system in synovial joints: normal bovine compared with normal and abnormal human synovial joints. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 1967;26:297–305. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Albrecht M., Marinetti G.V., Jacox R.F., Vaughan J.H. A biochemical and electron microscopy study of rice bodies from rheumatoid patients. Arthritis Rheum. 1965;8:1053–1063. - PubMed
    1. Pimm L.H., Waugh W. Tuberculous tenosynovitis. J. Bone Jt. Surg. 1957;39B:91–101. - PubMed
    1. Agha R.A., Fowler A.J., Saetta A., Barai I., Rajmohan S., Orgill D.P., for the SCARE Group The SCARE statement: consensus-based surgical case report guidelines. Int. J. Surg. 2016;34:180–186. - PubMed