Magnetic resonance imaging evaluation of the median nerve using histogram analysis in carpal tunnel syndrome

Özet

Objective: Histogram analysis of digital images is a popular new tissue analysis method. It has recently attracted much attention, is used to describe prognostic biomarkers, to characterize tumors, and to assist a few applications that guide radiotherapy treatment. Here, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) were analyzed. Methods: Hospital records were scanned of the past 3 years and patients who were diagnosed as having CTS through clinical findings and electromyography (EMG) at our outpatient clinic were included retrospectively. Patients who were not diagnosed as having CTS with EMG and had MRI of the wrists were determined as the control group. Results: A total of 96 wrist MRIs were studied, including 47 wrists with CTS (42 females, 5 males) and 49 normal wrists (39 females, 10 males). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of sex (p=0.188), affected side (p=0.065), and age (p=0.287). The mean age of the entire patient group was 41.34±13.14 years (range, 18-65 years). Entropy values of the CTS side were significantly lower than those of the normal side. Standard deviation and variances were also low. Histogram distribution parameters, skewness, and uniformity were statistically different as compared with the controls. No significant difference was observed among the other parameters. Conclusion: Although the intensity of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel does not change in CTS, significant changes were observed in histogram analysis. These data may be helpful in making diagnoses and treatment decisions, and determining the disease severity in CTS in the future.