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Objectives: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is useful for assessing temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). However, few studies have attempted texture analysis of the lateral pterygoid muscle in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study aims to investigate the usefulness of MRI texture analysis of the lateral pterygoid muscle of patients with RA of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Methods: We analyzed the data from 36 patients (18 non-RA patients and 18 RA patients) who complained of pain and underwent MRI between April 2008 and August 2021. From the MRI scans of these patients, 279 radiomics features were extracted using STIR image data of the ROIs on the lateral pterygoid muscle of patients with RA and analyzed using MaZda ver. 3.3. Seven gray-level co-occurrence matrix features (Sum entropy, Sum variance) were picked up using the Fisher coefficient, for comparison between the RA and non-RA groups. Data analysis was performed using the Mann–Whitney U test A P value of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: All seven lateral pterygoid muscle radiomic features indicated significant differences between the non-RA and RA groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion: MRI texture analysis shows potential for application in radiomics diagnosis of RA in TMJ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess quantitatively the mandibular bone marrow of patients with and without diabetes mellitus (DM) using the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). Methods: 65 DM patients (28 men, 37 women, 29–84 years of age, mean age 55.7 ± 15.7 years) and age-, sex- and periodontitis stage-matched 65 non-DM patients who had underwent MRI between April 2006 and March 2018 were included in this study. The ADC was calculated using the ADC visualization tool implemented in a dedicated off-line workstation. The regions of interest (ROI) were manually placed on the ADC map on which the mandibular bone marrow from the lower first molar to the lower second molar was observed in patients with and without DM. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann–Whitney U test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The mean ADC values of the mandibular bone marrow of patients with and without DM were 1.18 ± 0.21 × 10−3 mm2/s and 0.83 ± 0.14 × 10−3 mm2/s, respectively. The ADC values of DM patients were significantly higher than those of patients without DM. Conclusion: The ADC values allowed the quantitative evaluation of the mandibular bone marrow of DM patients. DWI might serve as a new and noninvasive method to assess the presence of DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The posterior superior alveolar artery (PSAA) is a branch of the maxillary artery that supplies the lateral sinus wall and overlying membrane. This artery is one among several arteries in which arterial damage during surgery can cause massive and fatal bleeding. The purpose of this study was to detect the PSAA using multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT) by age. Materials and methods: The present study was approved by our university ethics committee (EC19-010). The study included 230 patients (110 males, 120 females; ages 5–91 years, average age 42.5 years) who underwent MDCT of the jaw. The subjects were divided into two groups, one group in which the PSAA was observable and another in which the PSAA was not observable, to perform the Mann–Whitney U test. To perform the Tukey–Kramer multiple comparison test, the subjects were divided into the following ten groups depending on their age: 5–9 years, 10–19 years, 20–29 years, 30–39 years, 40–49 years, 50–59 years, 60–69 years, 70–79 years, 80–89 years, and 90–91 years. Results: The PSAA was identified in 74.5% (5–91 years) of the maxillary sinuses. The average age of subjects in whom the PSAA was observable was 33.4 years, and the average age of subjects in whom the PSAA was not observable was 11.3 years, indicating a significant difference between these two groups (p < 0.01). A comparison by age group showed a significant difference (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The detection ratio for the PSAA using MDCT increased with increasing age of the subject, reaching a high detection ratio of 94% in adults. This study has shown that MDCT is a very useful tool to observe the PSAA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with a broad range of complications, such as retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy, and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, predicting DM from head and neck images is a challenge for clinicians. The purpose of this study was to assess the mandibular condylar bone marrow in DM patients using computed tomography (CT) texture analysis. Methods: This retrospective study included 16 DM and age and sex matched 16 control patients (11 men, 5 women; mean age, 56.8 ± 14.4 years; range 31–78 years). Patients with Type I DM, prior history of taking bisphosphonates, osteoarthritis of the temporomandibular joint, and CT images with metal artifacts were excluded from this study. Bilateral mandibular condylar bone marrow was manually contoured on axial CT images. The presence or absence of DM is the primary predictor variable. Texture features of the region of interest was the outcome variable, that were analyzed using an open-access software, MaZda Ver.3.3. For each group, 20 features out of 279 parameters were selected with Fisher, probability of error and average correlation coefficient methods in MaZda. Bivariate statistics were computed with the Mann–Whitney U test and the P value was set at.05. Results: One histogram feature, 15 Gy level co-occurrence matrix features, and four gray level run length matrix features showed differences between the DM patients and non-DM patients (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Several texture features of the condyle demonstrated differences between the DM and non-DM patients. CT texture analysis may potentially detect DM from the condylar bone marrow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]