THE CORKSCREW SIGN IN HYPOTHENAR HAMMER SYNDROME

Arteriography of an adult manual labourer presenting with numbness and cold intolerance in the middle and ring fingers of the right hand dem onstrated filling defects in the digital arteries of these two fingers associated with a corkscrew-like configuration of the ulnar artery in Guyon's canal. This arterial segment was subsequently excised reveali ng intramural necrosis and fibrosis and nonocclusive intraluminal thro mbosis. An arteriogram performed 2 years previously for an unrelated c ondition revealed a similar but less pronounced corkscrew configuratio n of the artery, suggesting that this finding could be a marker for ar terial injury which may eventually lead to embolization or thrombosis with accompanying ischaemic symptoms.