Report-based frequency of retrodiscal tissue rupture in routine temporomandibular joint MRI reports: a retrospective
Nataliia Savychuk1, Vasyl Pekhno2, Roman Osnach3
1Department of Therapeutic and Pediatric Dentistry, Shupyk National Healthcare University of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Objectives:
To quantify the report-based frequency and laterality of retrodiscal tissue rupture documented in routine temporomandibular joint MRI reports in a selected clinical cohort.
Study Design:
Retrospective cohort study based on routine clinical TMJ MRI reports. After eligibility verification of the initial de-identified archive, two records were excluded because they did not represent eligible patient-level TMJ MRI examinations: one was a non-TMJ examination and one was a non-patient/non-case document. The final analytic dataset comprised 285 patients and 570 joints.
Results:
Report-documented retrodiscal tissue rupture was identified in 254 of 570 joints (44.56%; 95% CI 40.53-48.66). Report-documented absence of rupture was recorded in 124-joints (21.75%), whereas 192-joints (33.68%) had unknown or indeterminate report status. At the patient level, rupture in at least one joint occurred in 158 of 285 patients (55.44%; 95% CI 49.63-61.10), including bilateral report-documented rupture in 96 patients (33.68%; 95% CI 28.45-39.36). In paired laterality testing restricted to patients with fully known bilateral report status (n = 168), no statistically detectable imbalance between right-only and left-only report-documented rupture was observed (exact McNemar p = 0.377; discordant pairs: right-only 19, left-only 13). Valid age data were available for 265 of 285 patients (92.98%); age-related findings were interpreted descriptively.
Conclusions:
Report-documented retrodiscal tissue rupture was frequent in this selected referred TMJ MRI cohort and was often bilateral. Laterality and age-related findings should be interpreted cautiously because the study was retrospective, report-based, and affected by unknown/indeterminate report status, incomplete age data, and absence of standardized clinical correlation.