Pomegranate MRI

doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7378.1448/a

BMJ 2002;325:1448 ( 21 December )

Filler

Pomegranate MRI

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A 55 year old man presented with what seemed to be a straightforward case of carpal tunnel syndrome in 1973. His symptomsgot worse over time, so the surgeons decided to explore his wrist.They found a 10 cm swelling of the median nerve and took a biopsysample from it. The histology showed that the fibro-fatty tissuewas unlikely to be a tumour. Five years later he underwent a magneticresonance scan of his wrist. This showed a rare fibro-lipomatoushamartoma which is found almost exclusively in the median nerve.It has a characteristic "pomegranate" appearance on magnetic resonanceimaging and is reported to enlarge after surgical intervention.

Emma C Tallantyre, preregistration house officer.