Clinical evaluation of double-contrast computed tomography of the temporomandibular joint

Soft tissue pathology should be appreciated in diagnosing temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disease. For this purpose, contrast arthrography is useful and we also have introduced double-contrast arthrotomography of the TMJ. X-ray computed tomography (CT), on the other hand, is well suited to the diagnosis of TMJ disease, because it can clearly delineate both hard and soft tissues. We thus introduce direct sagittal CT of the head with the enhancement of the articular space of the TMJ using negative and positivse contrast media and confirmed that this method is very useful for the diagnosis of TMJ disease. In this paper we principally investigate the suitability of this double-contrast computed tomography of the TMJ. We conclude that double-contrast CT technique is equally or more useful in some cases than single-contrast CT technique in the diagnosis of TMJ disease. (author)