Association of radiographic and clinical findings in patients with temporomandibular joints osseous alteration

Objectives

To characterize the relationship between radiographic and clinical characteristics of patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osseous changes.

Materials and methods

TMJ cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of 73 patients (142 joints) with changes in osseous component of TMJ were included in this study. Based on both clinical and radiographic findings, each TMJ was diagnosed as either non-degenerative joint disease (non-DJD) or degenerative joint disease (DJD) according to the Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) criteria. The DJD group was further classified into two subgroups of osteoarthritis and osteoarthrosis. The data were analyzed using t test and Pearson’s correlation. Level of statistical significance was set at 0.05.

Results

Statistically significant relationships were found between TMJ crepitation sound and 4 radiographic characteristics of DJD. DJD group demonstrated statistically significant higher CBCT bone change score (BCS) and age. In contrast, there was no significant difference of BCS between osteoarthrosis and osteoarthritis groups within the DJD group.

Conclusions

Crepitation sounds and osseous changes in TMJ radiograph are confirmed to be important diagnostic criteria for TMJ DJD. However, degree of TMJ osseous changes does not correlate significantly with clinical pain symptom.

Clinical relevance

For TMJ DJD diagnosis, dentists should consider both clinical examination for TMJ crepitation and radiographic assessment for TMJ bony changes.

     

Rapid determination of viral RNA sequences in mosquitoes collected in the field

A method for rapid determination of viral RNA sequences (RDV) was applied to homogenates of Aedes aegypti collected in Thailand in an area in which dengue fever (dengue hemorrhagic fever) is endemic, using the mosquito cell line C6/36. Nucleic acid sequences of dengue virus type 4 and cell fusing agent virus were detected. This RDV method has the potential to become a standard method for detection of both known and newly emerging, unknown mosquito-borne viruses.     

Image findings of B cell lymphoma of the palate

In this report, we describe image findings in a case of a 78-year-old man with malignant lymphoma of the palate, which had progressively developed 8 years after malignant lymphoma of the neck. The patient was referred to our hospital with a complaint of painless swelling of the left palate. A slightly enhanced mass without apparent bone destruction was observed in the left palate on computed tomography (CT) images. The mass showed homogeneous signal intensity by both T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the anterior part of the mass exhibited inhomogeneous enhancement, but most of the mass demonstrated homogeneous signal intensity with slight enhancement by enhanced MRI. On the basis of these image findings, the lesion was diagnosed as a benign tumor of the minor salivary glands in the palate. Histopathological examination revealed findings consistent with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, diffuse large B cell type (World Health Organization classification). On a gallium-67 scintigram, only the site of the lesion was positive.     

Using a priori structural information from magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the feasibility of prostate diffuse optical tomography and spectroscopy: a simulation study

Implementation of diffuse optical tomography (DOT) for prostate cancer is challenging because the prostate is a deep-seated organ. We investigated whether diffuse optical tomography (DOT) and spectroscopy could be applied to monitor the physiology of prostate cancer using a small probe that could be placed endorectally. We manually segmented the prostate, the intraprostatic tumor, and the rectum using data from endorectal magnetic resonance imaging. These structures were reconstructed and meshed with tetrahedral finite elements in three dimensions. A 2 x 4 cm probe that has ten sources and 52 detectors were placed to face the anterior wall of the rectum in our simulation. Optical properties of the organs were obtained from the literature in the near infrared regime. Diffusion approximation was used to simulate photon migration with finite element method. Five wavelengths were used to simulate tissue absorption with realistic water, oxy- and deoxyhaemoglobin concentrations in the prostate. We combined a global search based on genetic algorithm with gradient-driven local search methods to fit the simulated data. Our results suggest that the optical properties and the concentrations of the chromophores of the prostate and the prostate cancer can be reliably recovered from the measurements using an endorectal probe. Prostate DOT is worth further investigation for clinical application.     

Novel virus discovery in field-collected mosquito larvae using an improved system for rapid determination of viral RNA sequences (RDV ver4.0)

In this study, we improved a method for rapid determination of viral RNA sequences (RDV) to overcome the limitations of previous versions. The RDV ver4.0 method can detect RNA sequences with at least 1,000 copies as starting material. A novel virus, which was isolated from field-collected Aedes aegypti larvae in the Phasi Charoen district of Thailand using C6/36 cells, was identified using the RDV ver4.0 protocol. The virus was named Phasi Charoen virus (PhaV). We used a high-throughput pyrosequencing approach to obtain more information about the genome sequence of PhaV. Analysis of a phylogenic tree based on amino acid sequences strongly suggested that PhaV belongs to the family Bunyaviridae.     

Type 1 diabetes management and outcomes: A multicenter study in Thailand

Aims/IntroductionThe Thai Type 1 Diabetes and Diabetes Diagnosed Before Age 30 Years Registry, Care and Network was established in 2014 and involved 31 hospitals. The objective of the registry was to evaluate glycemic control and complications of patients with type 1 diabetes.Materials and MethodsPatients’ demographics, clinical data, frequencies of daily self‐monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG), glycemic control and complications were collected.ResultsAmong the 1,907 type 1 diabetes patients, the mean age was 21.2 ± 11.3 years. The mean glycated hemoglobin level was 9.35 ± 2.41%, with significant variations among age groups (P < 0.001). Conventional insulin treatment and intensive insulin treatment were used in 43 and 57% of patients, respectively. Mean glycated hemoglobin levels were significantly higher in patients treated with conventional insulin treatment compared to those treated with intensive insulin treatment (9.63 ± 2.34 vs 9.17 ± 2.46%, P = 0.002). Compared to the conventional insulin treatment group, significantly more patients in the intensive insulin treatment group achieved good glycemic control (P < 0.001), and fewer had diabetic retinopathy (P = 0.031). The prevalence of microvascular complications increased significantly with age (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed good glycemic control to be associated with age 25 to <45 years, intensive insulin treatment with SMBG three or more times daily and diabetes duration of 1 to <5 years.ConclusionsMost Thai type 1 diabetes patients were not meeting the recommended glycemic target. As a result of this study, the national program to improve the quality of diabetes treatment and education has been implemented, and the results are ongoing.     

Transformation of temporomandibular joint disc configuration in internal derangement patients using magnetic resonance imaging

PurposeThe normal disc configuration is biconcave; however, the deformed disc can be found in internal derangement (ID) of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the transformation patterns of TMJ disc configuration during mouth opening and disc displacement status, disc reduction ability and TMJ clinical symptoms.MethodsTMJ MR images from volunteers and ID patients were analyzed for closed and open mouth positions. MR images of ID patients were classified into 4 groups: symptomatic joint with anterior disc displacement with or without reduction (ADW or ADWo) and asymptomatic joint with ADW or ADWo. The disc configurations in both positions were categorized as biconcave, biplanar, convex or folded; then the patterns of transformation were observed.ResultsFor the ADW group, the most common disc configuration for closed and open mouth positions were biplanar (66.7%) and biconcave (86.3%). The transformation pattern was significantly related to disc reduction ability (p < 0.05).ConclusionsThe transformation patterns of disc configuration during opening were related to anterior disc displacement and disc reduction ability.