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Updated: May 11, 2026
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Systematic Assessment of Mammalian Skull Specimens for Dental and Temporomandibular Joint Pathology
Published on: August 22, 2022
Temporomandibular joint involvement in ankylosing spondylitis
Pallak Arora1, Janardhan Amarnath, Setru Veerabhadrappa Ravindra
1Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Kalka Dental College Hospital and Research Centre, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India.
BMJ Case Reports
|May 7, 2013
Summary
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) can affect the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), causing stiffness. CT scans are crucial for detecting TMJ changes in AS patients when X-rays are inconclusive.
Area of Science:
- Rheumatology
- Radiology
- Orthodontics
Background:
- Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease primarily affecting the axial skeleton.
- Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) involvement in AS, while documented, has a variable reported frequency (4-35%).
- Conventional radiography may not always reveal subtle TMJ abnormalities in AS patients.
Observation:
- This case study focuses on a 40-year-old female patient with severe AS and symptomatic TMJ involvement.
- Clinical suspicion of AS is warranted in patients with unexplained painful, restricted joint, neck, or back movements.
- Conventional radiographic methods were insufficient to fully characterize the TMJ abnormalities.
Findings:
- Computed tomography (CT) demonstrated significant TMJ abnormalities in the patient with AS.
- CT imaging revealed articular cartilage changes, disc abnormalities, and altered joint morphology.
- CT is superior to conventional radiography for establishing joint space relations and bony morphology in TMJ-AS.
Implications:
- CT imaging provides valuable diagnostic information for TMJ involvement in rheumatic diseases like AS.
- Early and accurate diagnosis of TMJ-AS can guide appropriate management strategies.
- Clinicians should consider CT for evaluating symptomatic TMJ abnormalities when conventional imaging is non-diagnostic.
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