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Objectives: To investigate the assessment of inflammatory jaw pathologies using bone single-photon emission CT-CT (SPECT/CT) maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax). Methods: 44 patients with inflammatory jaw pathologies (7 chronic osteomyelitis, 8 osteoradionecrosis and 29 medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ)) underwent SPECT/CT at 4 h after injection of 99mTc hydroxymethylene diphosphonate. The SPECT/CT parameters SUVmax of the inflammatory jaw pathologies were analyzed. Statistical analyses for the SUVmax were performed by one-way repeated measures analysis of variance with Tukey's honestly significant difference test. A p-value lower than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean and standard deviation of SUVmax for 7 chronic osteomyelitis, 8 osteoradionecrosis and 29 MRONJ were 24.94 ± 3.65, 12.27 ± 5.47 and 16.55 ± 9.12, respectively. The SUVmax for chronic osteomyelitis were significantly higher than those for osteoradionecrosis (p = 0.011) and MRONJ (p = 0.043). Conclusions: Bone SPECT/CT SUVmax in the uptake of 99mTc hydroxymethylene diphosphonate reflecting bone physiological changes for chronic osteomyelitis were significantly higher than those of osteonecrosis, such as osteoradionecrosis and MRONJ. Bone SPECT/CT SUVmax should be useful for the assessment of inflammatory jaw pathologies, such as chronic osteomyelitis, osteoradionecrosis and MRONJ.

The aim of this study was to investigate the gallium-67 ( 67 Ga) single-photon emission-computed tomography (SPECT-CT) for the evaluation of head and neck, especially maximum standardised uptake value (SUV max ) in lesions, and in the parotid and submandibular glands. Material and methods:Fourteen patients with head and neck lesions who underwent SPECT-CT at 72 hours after injection of 67 Ga were included in this study. The 67 Ga SPECT-CT parameters SUV max were compared between the parotid glands and submandibular glands. Statistical analyses for the SUV max were performed by Mann-Whitney U test. A p value lower than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results: Of all 14 patients, 67 Ga SPECT-CT was positive for two cases (one malignant lymphoma and one osteomyelitis). The SUV max for malignant lymphoma and osteomyelitis were 11.21 and 10.95, respectively. Furthermore, SUV max for parotid glands and submandibular glands of all patients were 4.86 ± 1.89 and 4.64 ± 1.64, respectively (p = 0.694). Conclusions:This study investigated the 67 Ga SPECT-CT for the evaluation of head and neck, especially SUV max of lesions, and the parotid and submandibular glands. 67 Ga SPECT-CT may be an effective technique for the evaluation of maxillofacial lesions.

Ultrasonography is most extensively used for preoperative imaging as part of the diagnosis of oral and maxillofacial lesions. 1 In recent years, shear wave elastography has been shown to be an effective technique for the objective and quantitative diagnosis of cervical lymph node metastases of oral carcinoma. 2,3 Intraoral ultrasonography has been used to assess features of tongue cancer, including the border, size, location, depth, vascularity, and histological findings of the mass. 4,5 Strain elastography (performed together with intraoral ultrasonography) is relatively new to sonographic imaging, and the use of intraoral strain elastography for tongue cancer has been recently reported in the literature. 6,7 Computed tomography (CT), 8,9 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 10 and ultrasonography 11 can be useful for the preoperative evaluation of palatal lesions. However, to the best of our knowledge, intraoral strain elastography of pal-atal lesions has not been extensively described in the literature. This report describes 2 clinical cases in which strain elastography was used to assess palatal tumors in conjunction with intraoral ultrasonography, CT, and MRI.

Introduction: Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction is a common condition that is best evaluated with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of the patients with TMJ osteoarthrosis on MR imaging. Methods: The MR images of 206 TMJs of 103 patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) were evaluated retrospectively in this study. The relationship between osteoarthrosis and age, gender, TMJ pain and MR imaging findings, such as disc displacement with or without reduction and TMJ effusion, was analysed. Results: The patients with TMJ osteoarthrosis (mean: 51.6 years) were significantly older than those without osteoarthrosis (mean: 44.8 years, P = 0.027). The incidence of the patients with TMJ osteoarthrosis was significantly different between with (10.0 %) and without reduction (57.0 %, P < 0.001). Logistic multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that disc displacement without reduction was significant in patients with TMJ osteoarthrosis (odds ratio = 12.285, P < 0.001). Conclusions: This study suggests that characteristics of the patients with TMJ osteoarthrosis on MR imaging include older and disc displacement without reduction.