[Loss of digital tissues and carpal canal syndrome. Apropos of 3 cases].

We have observed three cases of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) complicated by cutaneous ulcerations and acroosteolysis. Although our first patient had a mild case of CTS, he had a concomitant amphetamine addition. This led to a mania for gnawing away at the digits in the territory of the median nerve. Our other two patients had severe cases of CTS. One suffered from diabetes and the other from primary amyloidosis. Surgical decompression of the median nerve was carried out in these two cases and led to rapid healing of the cutaneous lesions. The latter patients suffered from the entity known in the french literature as carpal tunnel "ulcero-mutilating" (ulcero-osteolytic CTS). This paper discusses possible mechanisms for its pathogenesis. In one of our cases, for example, we were struck by the role played by the patient's behavioral habits whether it be conscious or subconscious in the self-perpetration of the cutaneous and osseous lesions.