Carpal coalitions.

Intercarpal coalitions are well-known but poorly documented entities, resulting from incomplete cavitation of a common embryologic carpal precursor during the fourth to eighth weeks of intrauterine life. At our institution we have collected a series of 36 cases of carpal coalition in 24 persons. We found the condition to be much more common in American blacks than whites. The patients reported no symptoms or wrist dysfunction relative to the condition. The coalitions were incidental findings on radiographs taken for other reasons (usually trauma). This is the largest series in the English-language literature.