[Double tunnel syndrome of the upper limb in tophaceous gout. Apropos of a case].

Association of two tunnel syndromes secondary to tophaceous gout is uncommon. This article presents a case of ulnar and carpal tunnel compression. It concerns a 71 year old man with gout and treated for that condition. He presented with paraesthesiae in the fingers and loss of muscular strength in right hand. Physical examination discovered two masses, one in the epitrochlear groove, the other in the olecranon bursa; a severe ulnar palsy and a carpal tunnel syndrome. Neurolysis of both ulnar and median nerves was performed. After 2 years follow-up, paraesthesiae disappeared but atrophy of ulnar intrinsic muscles remained unchanged. The literature is reviewed. Carpal tunnel syndrome is well known in gout (28 reported cases), and is secondary to gouty tenosynovitis. Ulnar tunnel syndrome has been described once by Akizuki in 1984. The combination of the two conditions has not been previously been reported. In our case, median nerve compression was secondary to gouty synovitis but also to a bulky tophus from the floor of the carpal tunnel.