Emission imaging of patients with craniomandibular dysfunction.

Signs and symptoms of craniomandibular dysfunction in 37 patients were compared with the results of corrected cephalometric tomography and an emission imaging protocol consisting of both planar and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) (7500 ZLC Orbiter) images. The planar images and the single photon emission computed tomography projection views were processed with a bayesian deblurring algorithm to improve image quality. The correlation of emission imaging with craniomandibular dysfunction, as indicated by temporomandibular joint pain and joint noise, showed a high sensitivity (93%) and a high specificity (86%), whereas the correlation of corrected cephalometric tomography with temporomandibular joint pain and joint noise showed a relatively high sensitivity (89%) but a low specificity (27%). These results indicate that emission imaging is a sensitive and accurate indicator of craniomandibular dysfunction.