Non-Contrast MRI Assessment of Symptomizing TMJ

To evaluate the diagnostic value and accuracy of non-contrast MRI in the evaluation of the TMJ and correlate the findings with clinical symptoms. 40 patients with clinical manifestations related to the TMJ including pain in or around the TMJ during mandibular movement, limited jaw opening, tinnitus and TMJ clicking sounds during mouth opening and/or closing movement, were scheduled for routine bilateral TMJ conventional MR examination after getting approval from ethical committee on 1.5 Tesla machine in both opened and closed mouth positions. Images were analyzed and the data of TMJ abnormalities were reported.  Among the study patients, there was female predilection as female to male ratio was 3:1. The most common symptom was joint pain, limited mouth opening comes at second place. There were 58 normally positioned discs out of the examined 80 joints, 3 of them showed loss of mobility i.e., stuck discs. There were 11 joints showing anterior disc displacement with reduction, two of them showed effusion. We found 10 joints showing anterior disc displacement without reduction, effusion was seen in 4 of them. One disc showed sideway dislocation. Due to its excellent soft tissue contrast and multiplanar capabilities, which enhance the visualization of complex anatomical structures and provide a more accurate assessment of pathological conditions, we advocate using MRI as a suitable diagnostic tool for TMJ disorders. In our study we can conclude that anterior disc displacement is the most common finding in patients with symptomizing TMJ. Among the 21 anteriorly displaced disks, 11 showed reduction and 10 showed no reduction.