Pneumatization of the articular eminence in cone-beam computed tomography: prevalence and characteristics — literature review

Background: The articular tubercle is a site prone to pneumatization within thecranial bones. Knowledge of the anatomical variations of pneumatization adjacentto the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is an important issue. Air cells exhibit decreasedresistance to trauma, facilitate the spread of various pathologies in the TMJ,such as inflammation, tumours or fractures. Articular tubercle pneumatization maycause complications during TMJ surgery. Information of possible location allowsto detect and conduct differential diagnosis of pneumatization of the articulartubercle (PAT) during cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) examinations. Theaim of this study is to determine the prevalence and characteristics of PAT, withrespect to age, gender, location and type through assessment in CBCT images.Materials and methods: Articles were selected through database search (PubMed,Scopus, Google Scholar), in which the main objective was to assess the prevalenceof articular tubercle pneumatization using CBCT. Search strategies included thefollowing keywords: “pneumatized articular eminence” and “CBCT”, “pneumatizedarticular tubercle” and “CBCT” and “zygomatic air cell defect” and “CBCT”.A meta-analysis of prevalence using a random effects model was performed.Results: Fifteen studies met the selection criteria. The results showed that anoverall prevalence of articular tubercle pneumatization was 25.22% (n = 6393;95% confidence interval [CI] 15.84–35.94). The occurrence of PAT in females was25.14% (n = 3064; 95% CI 14.96–36.94). The frequency of PAT in males was25.81% (n = 2671; 95% CI 15.30–37.99).Conclusions: There was no correlation between the frequency, location or typeof PAT with age and gender