A Preliminary Study of Prevalence and Characteristics of Pneumatization of Articular Eminence on Cone Beam Computed Tomography

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this retrospective study was to identify the prevalence and properties of pneumatized articular eminence (PAT) in a group of Turkish population using CBCT.Material and Methods: The subjects for this retrospective study consisted of all 300 adult patients who referred to the Department of Oral Diagnosis and Radiology, Marmara University Faculty of Dentistry, and underwent a single CBCT examination from 2016 to 2017. Age and gender were noted for all patients, and for the cases of pnuematization, sides and type were recorded.Results: Of the 300 patients, 98 (32,0%) had PAT, of whom 43 were female and 55 were male. PAT was seen 14% on bilateral sides, 10% on the right side and 8.7% on the left side. 51% of those which had pneumatization were unilocular and 49% were multilocular Conclusion: CBCT images are a true and confident tool for the exploration of the definite size and pattern of pneumatization and the relationship of pnuematization to the adjacent tissue. ın case of surgical treatment is planned or for the differential diagnosis of suspected cases, panoramic radiographs should be supported with CBCT.

Pneumatization of the articular eminence in cone-beam computed tomography: prevalence and characteristics — literature review

“…Şallı et al [15] in their study included 1000 CBCT scans, where PAT was confirmed in 147 individuals and the highest prevalence was in patients between the ages of 30-39. On the other hand, in a study conducted by Borahan et al [ 22] on 300 patients, as many as 103 or 34.3% were over the age of 55. The quoted authors did not clearly demonstrate a relationship between age and the incidence of PAT in the patients studied [1,4,6,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”

“…On the other hand, in a study conducted by Borahan et al [ 22] on 300 patients, as many as 103 or 34.3% were over the age of 55. The quoted authors did not clearly demonstrate a relationship between age and the incidence of PAT in the patients studied [1,4,6,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”

“…All studies included in the meta-analysis assessed the presence of articular tubercle pneumatization using cone-beam computed tomography. Most studies showed no statistically significant differences in the incidence of PAT between males and females [4,6,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. One study [1] showed a statistically significant difference between the incidence of PAT in females (73,6%) and males (51,3%; p<0,05).…”

“…In the vast majority of authors who included Tyndall and Matteson's division, the multilocular type occurred more often than the unilocular type [1, 4, 6, 13, 15-18, 19, 21]. Only in two studies the unilocular type was more prevalent [22,24].…”

“…In 7 of the 15 studies reviewed, PAT was found more often in women [1,6,13,14,16,19,24] while in 6 men [15,17,18,20,22,23]. The authors of one of the studies included in the current review did not include the gender of the subjects as a factor determining the possibility of PAT [4].…”