Pneumatized Articular Eminence and Assessment of Its Prevalence and Features on Panoramic Radiographs

Objectives: pneumatized articular eminence or tubercle (pat) is an air cell cavity in the zygomatic process of the temporal bone. pneumatization of articular eminence may be seen incidentally on panoramic radiographs (pr) as a unilocular or multilocu-lar, radiolucent defect. the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and the pat-tern of pat on pr in an iranian population.materials and methods: a total of 3,098 prs belonging to 1,735 females and 1,363 males were retrospectively investigated for the presence and radiographic features of pat. all prs were taken for routine dental examination. chi square test, univariate odds ratio (or) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% ci) and binary lo-gistic regression were used for statistical analysis.results: pat was found in 2.1 % of cases including 41 females and 23 males (with a mean age of 33.23±12.43 and 35.64±13.24 years, respectively, range 19-69 years). there were 40 unilateral and 24 bilateral cases (a total of 88 pat) in this study in-cluding 49 unilocular and 39 multilocular cases. there was no significant difference in pat between males and females or different age groups.(p>0.05 and all 95% ci included 1). binary logistic regression indicated that there was no relationship between the presence of pat and age or sex.conclusion: knowledge about this anatomical variation is helpful for clinicians who are planning to perform temporomandibular joint surgery. they should asses the radi-ographic imaging thoroughly before the surgery. it can also provide valuable informa-tion to understand the differential diagnosis of pathological entities in this region.