To evaluate the relative impact of sex, type of onset, course of disease, age at onset, duration of disease and status of HLA-B27, antinuclear antibodies (ANA), and rheumatoid factor on the risk of developing a condylar erosion.
Condylar changes of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) were diagnosed on orthopantomograms from 169 consecutive patients with juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA). A multiple regression analysis was applied to establish the relative weight of the independent variables affecting the severity of the condylar erosion.
It was found that 62.1% of the patients exhibited condylar resorption. The highest prevalence was seen in children with a polyarticular onset or course of disease and early age at onset and severe resorption was also frequent in these groups. Patients with positive ANA also had a high prevalence but with a mild degree of resorption. In contrast, HLA-B27 positive patients had a lower risk of TMJ involvement and resorptive changes of the condyle.
Polyarticular and early onset arthritis are associated with a high risk for TMJ involvement and a severe condylar bone loss can be expected. ANA positive patients have a high prevalence, and B27 positive patients have a low prevalence of TMJ arthritis but in both subgroups, the outcome of the bone resorptive process is mild.