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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a known risk factor for carpal tunnel syndrome, but limited data exist on carpal tunnel syndrome as an early manifestation of RA. Researchers used a longitudinal database of Minnesota residents to identify ≈1300 adults with RA and ≈1300 adults without RA, matched on age and sex, and then examined carpal tunnel syndrome diagnoses before and after RA diagnosis.
Approximately 13% of people with eventual RA were diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome before their RA diagnosis, compared with 6% of controls in the same time period, a significant difference. Most carpal tunnel diagnoses occurred in the 2 years before RA diagnosis. After RA diagnosis, carpal tunnel diagnoses remained about twice as common in people with R…