Evaluation of the Mandibular Canal on Inflammatory Condition by Magnetic Resonance Imaging

抄録

Magnetic resonance imaging（MRI）has contrast resolution and is frequently used to soft tissue diseases and diagnose bone marrow. The efficacy of MRI in the evaluation of various disease in nerve and bone marrow tissue has been reported in previous studies. However, to our knowledge, only few studies have assessed the mandibular canal（MC）affected by osteomyelitis using MRI. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the MC on inflammatory condition using MRI. One hundred thirty patients with osteomyelitis （50 men, 80 women; mean age, 55.7 years; age range, 20–89 years）who visited our hos pital between April 2013 and March 2020. Osteomyelitis was diagnosed based on the clinical symptoms and typical clinical imaging findings. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the apparent diffusion coefficient（ADC）value of the MC on the affected by osteomyelitis and non-affected side. This test was calculated using the ADC value of the MC as the criterion variable and disease status as explanatory variable. Statistical significance was set at P<0.05. The median ADC value of the MC on the affected side was 1.34×10^-3 mm²/s and that of the MC on the non-affected side was 1.12×10^-3 mm²/s. The median ADC value of the MCs affected side were higher than those of the non-affected side（P<0.01）. The ADC values of the MC was able to distinguish between affected side and non-affected side. These results suggested that the MRI might serve as a noninvasive method to evaluation the presence of MC on inflammatory condition.