Pahwa S, Bhalla AS, Roychaudhary A, Bhutia O. Multidetector computed tomography of temporomandibular joint: A road less travelled. World J Clin Cases 2015; 3(5): 442-449 [PMID: 25984518 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v3.i5.442]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Dr. Ashu Seith Bhalla, Professor, Department of Radiodiagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar East, Gautam Nagar, New Delhi 110029, India. ashubhalla1@yahoo.com
Research Domain of This Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Article-Type of This Article
Diagnostic Advances
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Shivani Pahwa, Ashu Seith Bhalla, Department of Radiodiagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India
Ajoy Roychaudhary, Ongkila Bhutia, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Centre for Dental Education and Research, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India
Author contributions: Pahwa S, Bhalla AS and Roychaudhary A contributed equally to the paper; Pahwa S wrote the paper; Bhalla AS designed the study; Bhalla AS and Roychaudhary A contributed reviewed the paper; all authors contributed to this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest: None of the authors has received fees for serving as a speaker, a consultant and an advisory board member for any organizations. None of the authors has received research funding from any organization. None of the authors owns stocks and shares in any organization. None of the authors owns patents.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Ashu Seith Bhalla, Professor, Department of Radiodiagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar East, Gautam Nagar, New Delhi 110029, India. ashubhalla1@yahoo.com
Telephone: +91-11-26594925
Received: October 21, 2014 Peer-review started: October 21, 2014 First decision: December 12, 2014 Revised: January 19, 2015 Accepted: March 18, 2015 Article in press: March 20, 2015 Published online: May 16, 2015
Abstract
This article reviews the imaging anatomy of temporomandibular joint (TMJ), describes the technique of multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) of the TMJ, and describes in detail various osseous pathologic afflictions affecting the joint. Traumatic injuries affecting the mandibular condyle are most common, followed by joint ankylosis as a sequel to arthritis. The congenital anomalies are less frequent, hemifacial microsomia being the most commonly encountered anomaly involving the TMJ. Neoplastic afflictions of TMJ are distinctly uncommon, osteochondroma being one of the most common lesions. MDCT enables comprehensive evaluation of osseous afflictions of TMJ, and is a valuable tool for surgical planning. Sagittal, coronal and 3D reformatted images well depict osseous TMJ lesions, and their relationship to adjacent structures.
Core tip: This pictorial review describes the common as well as uncommon bony afflictions of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) with classical images. Bony afflictions of the TMJ constitute a significant bulk of lesions around this joint. However, very little literature is available on imaging evaluation of non-articular disc, osseous disorders. Computed tomography (CT) is the workhorse for evaluation of osseous lesions around the joint and this article focuses on the CT evaluation of these lesions, and also on optimal imaging strategy, which is essential for surgical planning.
