27th February 2021, Spectrum Radiology

Anatomy of the nerve

We last reviewed Morton’s Neuroma here back in 2018. It is always refreshing to look a real case from the radiologist’s point of view. It does remind us to keep a look out for this relatively common condition which can be debilitating. The term neuroma is a misnomer because the lesion is not a neoplastic lesion such as a schwannoma or neurofibroma. It most often occurs in middle-aged individuals and is many times more common in women than men (9:1). Morton neuroma, also known as inter-metatarsal neuroma, is a focal area of perineural fibrosis around plantar digital nerves of the foot. It is thought to be due to chronic entrapment of the nerve by the inter-metatarsal ligament and can be a cause of metatarsalgia.