The expression of estrogen receptors in the tenosynovium of postmenopausal women with idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome.

The purpose of this study was to investigate estrogen receptor (ER) expression in tenosynovial tissues of postmenopausal woman with idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) to determine whether estrogen contributes to the pathogenesis of this condition. Biopsy samples of tenosynovial tissues were collected from 14 postmenopausal women (mean age; 57, range; 46-69 years) undergoing surgery for idiopathic CTS, and control specimens of tenosynovial tissue were collected from 6 postmenopausal women (mean age; 59, range; 48-68 years) without CTS. Histological and immunohistochemical examinations were performed to determine the distributions of ER-α and ER-β in tenosynovial tissues.