Tingling hand: magnetic resonance imaging of median nerve pathologies within the carpal tunnel

Compressive neuropathy of the median nerve at the level of the carpal tunnel, known as carpal tunnel syndrome, is the most common entrapment neuropathy, affecting about 0.1-1% of the general population. Magnetic resonance reliably imaged the flexor retinaculum and carpal bones and thus defined the borders of the carpal tunnel. In all cases the median nerve was seen as an ovoid structure of moderate signal intensity and was easily distinguished from the flexor tendons of the hands running in the carpal tunnel. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) serves as an extremely useful tool for evaluation of primary nerve pathologies and for the assessment of space-occupying lesions leading to its compression. We present a pictorial review of the MRI findings in the multitude of pathologies implicated in the causation of carpal tunnel syndrome. All the images were obtained from the Department of Radiodiagnosis in our own institution.