Flattened condylar projection in children: reflection of seasonal growth?

'Deformed or flattened' X-ray projections of the mandibular condyle are incidentally reported in the literature. However, when studied longitudinally in a growing child, this characteristic appears to come and go in an unpredictable order. In addition, there is experimental evidence that in the rat elongated 'flattened' condyles can be cultured and that the rat condylar growth exhibits seasonal fluctuations. Therefore, the hypothesis was formulated that a part of the flattened condylar projections may reflect a temporarily active growth vector. The result of this study suggests that condylar flattened projections in children exhibit a seasonal variation and may possibly be interpreted as the reflection of a temporarily active growth vector.