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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2025; 35(01): 050-058
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1788608
Original Article

Evaluation of the Articular Disc Using the Magnetic Resonance Cartigram in Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Temporomandibular Disorders

Aparna Sivakumar 
1   Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, SRM Dental College, Bharathi Salai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Anuradha Ganesan
1   Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, SRM Dental College, Bharathi Salai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Krithika Chandrasekar Lakshmi
1   Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, SRM Dental College, Bharathi Salai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Yesoda Aniyan
1   Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, SRM Dental College, Bharathi Salai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Saravanan Kannan
2   Department of Radiology in Saravana Imaging and Research Centre, Nandanam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
› Author Affiliations
Funding None.
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Abstract

Objectives The study is aimed to perform magnetic resonance (MR) cartigram of the articular disc in patients with asymptomatic and symptomatic temporomandibular disorders (TMD).

Materials and Methods Thirty-nine volunteers were divided into three groups: 16 symptomatic TMD, 16 asymptomatic TMD, and 7 controls. The articular disc was divided into three segments (anterior, middle, and posterior) and analyzed using morphological magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and T2 mapping sequences. T2 relaxation values were measured and assessed by an experienced radiologist and two observers. The T2 values in the discs were compared between the control, asymptomatic, and symptomatic groups using the Kruskal–Wallis test. The right and left discs were compared using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Inter-examiner reliability among different examiners was evaluated.

Results The controls had the highest T2 values compared with the other groups. The comparison among the right and left sides of all the groups revealed statistically significant results in the anterior portion in the asymptomatic group and the middle portion in the symptomatic group (p < 0.05). The inter-examiner reliability coefficients among the three examiners were consistently high, with values of 0.921, 0.920, and 0.930.

Conclusion Our study found the T2 relaxation time span was shorter than that reported in previous studies, which could be attributed to the early stage of cartilage deterioration in the individuals with TMD inferring treatment at this phase may be eventually effective with a good prognosis.

Keywords

temporomandibular joint - temporomandibular disorders - magnetic resonance imaging - articular disc - T2 mapping - collagen fiber network

Ethical Approval

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008 (5).


Patient Consent

Additional informed consent was obtained from all patients for which identifying information is included in this article. This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by the any of the authors.




Publication History

Article published online:
01 August 2024

© 2024. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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