3D volumetric evaluation of the diagnosis and severity of carpal tunnel syndrome using MRI

Abstract

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common nerve compression syndrome. The usage of clinical tests and nerve conduction studies (NCS), as well as ultrasonography and magnetic resonance images (MRI), have recently become widespread to diagnose CTS. This study aims to determine the alteration of the carpal tunnel volume based on disease seriousness by MIMICS 19.0 which is a threedimensional modeling software. Materials and method: In this study, 80 wrists of 63 (47 female and 16 male) patients with MRI and NCS results among 1252 patients who applied to our hospital with wrist pain and neuropathic complaints between January 2019 and August 2020 were included in our study. The patients were classified into four groups according to their NCS results as normal, mild CTS, moderate CTS, and severe CTS. Carpal tunnel volumes of the groups were measured with MIMICS 19.0 program using MRI. Three-dimensional carpal tunnel volume averages were statistically compared between the groups. Then, all statistical analyzes were performed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 23) software. Results: The results demonstrate the mean carpal tunnel volume values for normal, mild CTS, moderate CTS, and severe CTS are 5.51 cm3 +/- 0.20, 5.27 cm3 +/- 0.16, 4.86 cm3 +/- 0.20, and 4.43 cm3 +/- 0.24, respectively. Carpal tunnel volumes were found to be lower in all groups which have CTS compared to the normal group. As the groups with CTS were compared among themselves, a significant difference was found between the groups in terms of carpal tunnel volumes (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In this study, a significant relationship between 3-dimensional measurements of carpal tunnel volume and the severity of CTS was observed. Therefore, MRI is an applicable method to diagnose and determine the severity of CTS.