Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Volume 67, Issue 6 , Pages 1184-1190, June 2009

Histologic Study of Adhesions in the Upper Joint Compartment of the Temporomandibular Joint

  • ShanYong Zhang, MD

      Affiliations

    • Attending Doctor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ninth People's Hospital, School of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
    • ,
  • Chi Yang, MD

      Affiliations

    • Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ninth People's Hospital, School of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence and reprint requests to Dr Yang: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ninth People's Hospital, School of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No. 639, Zhi Zao Ju Rd, 200011, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
    • ,
  • MinJie Chen, MD

      Affiliations

    • Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ninth People's Hospital, School of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
    • ,
  • XiuMing Liu, MS

      Affiliations

    • Postgraduate, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ninth People's Hospital, School of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
    • ,
  • ZhiQiang Feng, MD

      Affiliations

    • Postgraduate, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ninth People's Hospital, School of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
    • ,
  • XieYi Cai, MD

      Affiliations

    • Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ninth People's Hospital, School of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
    • ,
  • LiZhen Wang, MD

      Affiliations

    • Professor, Department of Oral Pathology, Ninth People's Hospital, School of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China

Purpose

The aim of this study was to observe the histologic characteristics of adhesions in the upper joint compartment of the temporomandibular joint and investigate the mechanism of genesis.

Patients and Methods

During arthroscopic surgery, we obtained 42 biopsy specimens of different grades of adhesions, ranging from grade I to grade IV, from 21 joints in 21 patients with internal derangement. Two biopsy specimens from each temporomandibular joint were obtained in this study; one was immediately fixed in 4% formalin and examined under a light microscope, and the other was fixed in 2% glutaraldehyde solution and examined under a transmission electron microscope.

Results

Different grades of adhesions had uniform dense connective tissue under the light microscope, and a number of fibrocytic cells were scattered within the extracellular matrix. However, in grade II adhesions, synovial membrane and some elastic fibers were shown. Under the transmission electron microscope, orderly arranged collagen bundles were prominent in grade I and grade III adhesions. Elastic fibers were abundant in grade II adhesions with orderly arranged collagen bundles; a small number of inactive fibroblasts were scattered about these adhesions. Randomly arranged collagen bundles and elastic fibers were also observed in grade IV adhesions, in which synovial membrane cells and cartilaginoid cells were detected. In addition, fibroblasts with active secretion were observed, and a considerable amount of rough endoplasmic reticulum was noted.

Conclusions

Different arrangements of collagen fibers with or without elastic fibers were observed in the 4 types of adhesions. These findings could enable further exploration into the mechanism of adhesion formation.

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 This study was supported by the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai (08DZ2271100), a grant from Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project (project No. S30206), a grant from Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Health (grant No. 2008160), a project of Shanghai “Phosphor” Science Foundation (grant No. 04QMH1415), and a grant from the PhD Programs Foundation of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (No. BXJ0926).

PII: S0278-2391(08)01832-6

doi:10.1016/j.joms.2008.12.005

Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Volume 67, Issue 6 , Pages 1184-1190, June 2009

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