[A rare cause of carpal tunnel syndrome: leprosy. Latency period of decades is possible]. / Seltene Ursache eines Karpaltunnelsyndroms: Lepra. Jahrzehntelange Latenzzeit möglich.

In a 63-year-old German woman with no apparent exposure to leprosy, clinical and histological evidence of tuberculoid leprosy was found. A noteworthy feature of this case is either the very long incubation time of 45 years, or the mode of infection involving an only short encounter in an endemic region. In the event of unclear lesions--on white skin not, typically, hypopigmented, but reddish--accompanied by disordered sensation, we in Europe must also give consideration to the possibility of a sporadic case of leprosy. A particular characteristic of this case was leprous neuritis involving the median nerve which was diagnosed clinically as carpal tunnel syndrome, and scheduled for surgical treatment. Under treatment with dapsone and rifampicin, however, the condition cleared up completely.