RESEARCH ARTICLE
Analysis of Magnetic Resonance Images of Disk Positions and Deformities in 1,265 Patients with Temporomandibular Disorder
Yong-Suk Choi1, 2, Jun-ichi Asaumi1, *, Miki Hisatomi1, Teruhisa Unetsubo1, Yoshinobu Yanagi1, Hidenobu Matsuzaki1, Hironobu Konouchi1, Eui-Hwan Hwang2, Sang-Rae Lee2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2009Volume: 3
First Page: 1
Last Page: 20
Publisher ID: TODENTJ-3-1
DOI: 10.2174/1874210600903010001
Article History:
Received Date: 21/4/2008Revision Received Date: 22/12/2008
Acceptance Date: 21/1/2009
Electronic publication date: 6/3/2009
Collection year: 2009

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/)which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Objectives
To compare MRI manifestations according to gender and age and to identify correlations between clinical manifestations and MRI findings in patients with temporomandibular disorder (TMD) as based on a large series.
Materials and Methods
Fat suppressed oblique sagittal images of the open and closed mouth were acquired, and MRI scanning parameters were applied.
Results
The patients consisted of 946 females (average, 36.6 years old), and 319 males (average, 34.3 years old). In all TMD patients, 945 had symptoms in the unilateral temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and 320 in the bilateral TMJ. There were significant differences in the distribution of disk positions based on age, regardless of gender, in the unilaterally and bilaterally symptomatic groups; however, the results were not significant in the asymptomatic group. There were significant differences with respect to the distribution of disk positions between males and females in asymptomatic group and in the unilaterally symptomatic group, although the bilaterally symptomatic group did not show significant differences in this regard. As regards the disk positions in the joints of the three groups (asymptomatic group, unilaterally and bilaterally symptomatic groups), there were significant interactive effects of disk positions, regardless of gender. There were statistically significant age-related differences in disk deformities in all symptom groups, regardless of gender, except for in the group of males lacking symptoms in either joint. As regards disk deformities among the three groups studies here, there were significant interactive effects for disk positions, regardless of gender.