Active unilateral condylar hyperplasia: Assessment of the usefulness of single photon emission computed tomography

BACKGROUND: This study aims to evaluate whether the uptake difference by the condyles evaluated using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) examination is useful for predicting the activity of the feature and the advance of this pathology. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An observational and prospective study has been carried out on nine patients affected by unilateral condylar hyperplasia (UCH) with complete bone maturation, with a follow-up over 18 months. At the beginning of the study, a test-battery was conducted including dental casts, articular examination, teleradiography and cephalometry, computed tomography and SPECT, creating two groups of patients from a difference in uptake between both condyles greater than 10% over the follow-up period. Evolution of data obtained with the rest of the diagnostic tests were compared to confirm UCH activity predicted by SPECT. RESULTS: The comparison of both groups did not show hardly any significant differences, with little clinical significance. Deviation of the mandibular line, the size of the branches or condyles behaved similarly in both study groups. CONCLUSIONS: From the data obtained in our study, we can conclude that the use of the difference in uptake between both condyles by applying the SPECT technique is not a valid approach for predicting clinical activity in cases of UCH. Key words:Temporomandibular joint, facial asymmetry, single photon emission computed tomography, scintigraphy, condylar hyperplasia.