Relationship between dorsal ganglion cysts of the wrist and intraosseous ganglion cysts of the carpal bones.

Soft tissue ganglion cysts are the most common benign tumours of the wrist; their pathogenesis remains controversial. We prospectively screened the radiographic appearance of the wrists of 51 patients presenting to a single surgeon with dorsal wrist ganglions during a one-year period. Postero-anterior and lateral radiographs were systematically performed looking for possible associated intraosseous ganglion cysts. There were 51 dorsal soft tissue ganglion cysts in 51 patients. We detected 29 associated intraosseous ganglia in 24 patients (47%): 16 ganglia in the lunate bone (55%), 5 in the capitate bone, 7 in the scaphoid and 1 in the trapezoid. Mean size of the intraosseous ganglia was 3 mm (range, 2 to 5 mm). This high prevalence of intraosseous ganglia in association with soft tissue ganglia has to our knowledge never been reported previously. A common aetiology for these two types of ganglion cysts may explain this high association rate.