Temporomandibular disorders: MR assessment of inflammatory changes in the posterior disk attachment during the menstrual cycle

Abstract

Purpose: Our goal was to correlate the menstrual cycle with joint pain, MR evidence of the disk, and posterior disk attachment in patients with temporomandibular disorders.

Method: Forty-two women underwent MRI involving conventional T1-and T2-weighted gadolinium-enhanced fat-suppressed SE imaging sequences.

Results: There was a strong statistical difference in the degree of joint pain between proliferated phase and secretory phase groups (p < 0.005). Joint pain had a tendency to increase at the secretory phase. Significantly less contrast enhancement of the posterior disk attachment was observed in the proliferated phase than in the secretory phase (p < 0.001) or menstrual phase (p < 0.01). In addition, anterior disk displacement without reduction of the temporomandibular joint was closely associated with joint pain.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that positional changes of the disk and the menstrual cycle may play a role in the degree of joint pain and inflammatory pathology of the posterior disk attachment.