The existing literature has explored carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and determined that it could be a risk for coronary artery disease (CAD), but there has been little research comparing the relevance of CAD with other neuromuscular disorders (NMDs) to CTS. This case-control study explored the association between CTS, stenosing tenosynovitis (ST), and ulnar side NMDs and CAD. The study utilized data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, focusing on health insurance claims. Between January 2000 and December 2011, we employed the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnostic codes to identify 64,025 CAD patients as the case group. The control group consisted of an equal number of individuals without CAD, matched for age, sex, and index year of CAD. Logistic regression analysis was employed to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each variable. Multivariate analysis, after adjusting for sociodemographic factors and comorbidities, revealed a significantly higher likelihood of a previous diagnosis of CTS in the CAD group compared to the comparison control group. However, neither ST nor the ulnar side NMDs had any statistical significance. These results indicated that median nerve injury, rather than other NMDs, may uniquely serve as a predisposing factor of CAD.
Keywords: carpal tunnel syndrome; coronary artery disease; medial epicondylitis; stenosing tenosynovitis; ulnar nerve injury.