Unidigital clubbing in a patient with ulnar neuropathy due to Hansen's disease

Baqueteamento unidigital em uma paciente com neuropatia ulnar secundária à hanseníase

A 37-year-old woman presented with a 5-year history of skin lesions with multiple erythematous papules, enlarged nerves on palpation, and a right ulnar neuropathy, characterized by weakness and wasting of intrinsic hand muscles and numbness in the fifth and fourth fingers of the right hand, with unidigital clubbing. This is an unusual sign, previously reported in finger trauma, median nerve neuropathy, brachial plexopathy, sarcoidosis, and vascular conditions such as aortic aneurysms. To our knowledge, the present is the first report on ulnar neuropathy secondary to leprosy, confirmed by skin biopsy, and serves as a clue to the diagnosis of mononeuropathies.¹

Figure 1
Patient's hand, showing unidigital clubbing of the right hand's fifth finger and wasting of the interosseous muscle as well as the fifth finger abduction sign (Wartenberg sign).²

References

• ¹
  Hawkes CH, Sethi KD, Swift TR. Instant Neurological Diagnosis. Second Edition. Oxford University Press; 2019
• ²
  Wartenberg R. Diagnostic tests in Neurology. The year Book Publishers Inc; 1953

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  01 May 2023
• Date of issue
  2022

History

• Received
  18 May 2022
• Accepted
  28 Aug 2022