title: Hypercholesterolemia as a risk factor for idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome.
abstract: In idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), the median nerve is enlarged within the carpal tunnel due to intraneural connective tissue proliferation. Because hypercholesterolemia, especially increase in low-density lipoprotein (LDL), has been associated with fibrogenesis, we investigated the association of median nerve cross-sectional area and prevalence of idiopathic CTS with serum lipid measurements in middle-aged patients and controls. We found that nerve area and prevalence of CTS were correlated with serum LDL levels. Thus, high LDL levels in middle age are a risk factor for idiopathic CTS, suggesting that the LDL-correlated median nerve enlargement increases the volume of the carpal tunnel contents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Toranomon Hospital, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8470, Japan. toranomonkajigaya@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Ken-Ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamichi
authors.forename: Shintaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tachibana
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002349:Carpal Tunnel Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006984:Hypertrophy / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008475:Median Nerve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL; D002784:Cholesterol