MRI manifestations of bowler's thumb

Bowler's thumb is a rare perineural fibrosis involving the ulnar digital nerve of the thumb. Affected patients present with pain, neuropathy, and mass lesion. The condition is caused by chronic repetitive impaction of the ulnar soft tissues of the thumb against the thumbhole of a bowling ball. In our case, MRI showed decreased signal intensity on both T1- and T2-weighted images surrounding an enlarged ulnar digital nerve of the thumb. The findings can be confused with giant-cell tumor of the tendon sheath or peripheral-nerve-sheath tumor.