Temporomandibular disorder: prevalence among hemophiliac patients / Trastorno temporomandibular: prevalencia en pacientes hemofílicos

The objective was to investigate the prevalence of temporomandibular dysfunction ­TMD - in severe and moderate hemophiliac A and B patients and healthy men as control group. Hemophilia complication is chronic arthropathy that results from repeated joint bleeding, leading to limited movement. Limitation of jaw movement is present in patients with TMD. Hemophiliac patients were recruited in the Hemophilia outpatient clinic at Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). The control group was composed of voluntary subjects recruited among medical and dental students of UNIFESP. Both groups were screened for TMD symptoms according to the European Academy of Craniomandibular Disorders questionnaire. The Research Diagnostic Criteria further evaluated those considered positive for TMD. The results showed a similar prevalence of TMD in the hemophiliac group compared to the control group (n= 38, n= 79; p= 0.7). There were no significant differences in severity of sign and symptoms between the groups. In conclusion, patients with hemophilia do not have a higher prevalence of temporomandibular disorders, indicating absence of hemorrhage in temporomandibular joint.

El objetivo fue investigar la prevalencia de trastornos temporomandibulares (TTM) entre pacientes hemofílicos A y B severos y moderados, y hombres sanos como grupo de control. Una complicación de la Hemofilia es la artropatía crónica como resultado de una hemorragia articular a repetición, limitando el movimiento en el tiempo. La limitación del movimiento de la mandíbula está presente en pacientes con TTM. Los pacientes hemofílicos fueron reclutados en la clínica de atención ambulatoria de hemofilia en Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). El grupo control estaba compuesto por sujetos voluntarios reclutados entre los estudiantes de Medicina y Odontología de UNIFESP. Ambos grupos fueron evaluados por síntomas de TTM según cuestionario de trastornos craneomandibulares de la Academia Europea. Los criterios de diagnósticos de investigación evaluados se consideraron positivos para TTM. Los resultados mostraron una prevalencia similar de TTM en el grupo de hemofílicos en comparación con el grupo control (n= 38, n= 79; p= 0,7). No se encontraron diferencias significativas en la gravedad de los signos y síntomas entre los grupos. En conclusión, los pacientes con hemofilia no tienen una mayor prevalencia de trastornos temporomandibulares, indicando la ausencia de hemorragia en la articulación temporomandibular.

A semi-automated method for bone age assessment using cervical vertebral maturation.

OBJECTIVE: To propose a semi-automated method for pattern classification to predict individuals' stage of growth based on morphologic characteristics that are described in the modified cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) method of Baccetti et al. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 188 lateral cephalograms were collected, digitized, evaluated manually, and grouped into cervical stages by two expert examiners. Landmarks were located on each image and measured. Three pattern classifiers based on the Naïve Bayes algorithm were built and assessed using a software program. The classifier with the greatest accuracy according to the weighted kappa test was considered best. RESULTS: The classifier showed a weighted kappa coefficient of 0.861 ± 0.020. If an adjacent estimated pre-stage or poststage value was taken to be acceptable, the classifier would show a weighted kappa coefficient of 0.992 ± 0.019. CONCLUSION: Results from this study show that the proposed semi-automated pattern classification method can help orthodontists identify the stage of CVM. However, additional studies are needed before this semi-automated classification method for CVM assessment can be implemented in clinical practice.