Evaluation of mandibular segments on CBCT in patients with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Aim: the aim of this study is to evaluate differences in volume of mandibular segments between individuals with unilateral and bilateral Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), comparing them to control individuals without JIA. Methods: for this study, 40 patients with unilateral JIA, 48 patients with bilateral JIA and 45 subjects without known rheumatic conditions as the control group were included. Each mandible was divided into various volumetric segments (hemimandible, condyle, ramus, and hemibody) using a validated method. Results: the ANOVA test revealed significant differences in the size of the condyle and ramus between the groups. Further comparisons showed that the condyle and branch volumes were notably larger in the control group (1444.47 mm3; 5715.44 mm3) compared to the affected sides in the unilateral AIG (929.46 mm3; 4,776.31 mm3) and bilateral AIG (1,068.54 mm3; 5,715.44 mm3) groups. Furthermore, in patients with unilateral AIG, condylar volume was greater on the unaffected side (1419.39 mm3; 5566.24 mm3) compared to the affected side and compared to the bilateral JIA group. Conclusions: in patients with unilateral JIA significantly lower volumes in the haemimandibula, condyle and ramus of the affected side were observed. The total mandibular volume is greater in the control group, followed by the group with unilateral AIG and finally the group with bilateral AIG.