2012 Volume 58 Issue 2 Pages 87-91
Ganglions are cystic lesions arising in joints such as the wrist and ankle, but rarely occur in the temporomandibular joint. We report a ganglion involving the temporomandibular joint and review the literature on this rare entity.
An 80-year-old man presented to a local hospital because of a swelling in the right preauricular region that had persisted for 2 months. He was referred to our hospital for surgical resection of a mass found on MRI. Fine-needle aspiration produced a gelatinous material with a small amount of nonkeratinized squamous epithelium and histiocytes. The mass was clinically diagnosed as a cystic lesion of the right temoporomandibular joint and was surgically resected under general anesthesia. Microscopic examination showed a layered structure of the cyst wall without an epithelial lining, which is consistent with a diagnosis of ganglion. One year after surgery, there has not been any evidence of recurrence.
