The Involvement of the Temporomandibular Joint in Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Abstract
A roentgenological and clinical examination of the temporomandibular joint was carried out in 249 children, under 15 years of age, afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis. A total of 2244 presumed healthy school children served as controls. Roentgenological observed morphological deviations of the mandibular condyles from presumably non-affected ones were divided into three types: minor lesions, flattening of the condyle, and grave lesions. The changes were predominantly found in the younger patients but the relative incidence was not concentrated in any particular age group. The majority lesion was a flattening of the condyle; in the remaining cases grave lesions were more frequent than minor ones. The condyles were affected three times as often in girls as in boys. About 40% of the lesions were asymmetrical. Fewer than 40% of the patients with affected mandibular condyles displayed clinical symptoms', these were, on the other hand, manifest also in patients with no detectable condylar lesions. One of the 2244 control children was found to be afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis; the primary lesion appeared in the temporomandibular joint.

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