The temporomandibular joint in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: I. Computed tomographic findings.

The temporomandibular joints (TMJ) of children afflicted with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) were evaluated with clinical examinations and computed tomography (CT). Thirty-seven consecutive patients (6-17 years old) from the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital arthritis clinic were studied to investigate morphological abnormalities in the TMJ by CT. Both qualitative and quantitative measures of TMJ morphology were made from axial CT scans. Ten children without JRA served as a control group. Various ANOVA and nonparametric statistical models were used for analysis. Evidence of TMJ abnormalities from the CTs was found in 62% of these JRA children. The TMJ pathosis indices for left and right joints were significantly higher in the JRA subjects than those in the control children (P < 0.03) and joint spaces were narrower (P < 0.02). These features are indicative of TMJ destruction. Thus, there is considerable risk for TMJ involvement and its debilitating and deforming sequelae in children afflicted with JRA.