Incidental finding of an extensive oropharyngeal mass in magnetic resonance imaging of a patient with temporomandibular disorder: A case report
Year: 2016
Type: article
Study design: Case Report
Abstract: Orofacial pain is a common complaint in the medical and dental setting. 1 This includes complaints of headaches, jaw pain, ear fullness, and clicking sounds in and around the temporomandibular joint (TMJ).A majority of these unclear pain symptoms are commonly associated with a diagnosis of temporomandibular disorder (TMD). 1 More concerning is that treatment options may be provided without conclusively identifying the primary underlying cause.Typically, recalcitrant orofacial pain cases are even tually referred to an oral medicine specialist for further evaluation, diagnosis, and management.Eventually it may take several months from the time of the initial complaint for the definitive diagnosis to be established.Pain in the orofacial region can be potentially caused by infections, trauma, TMJ arthralgia, TMJ articular disc disorder, myofascial pain, psychiatric disorders, atypical facial pain, otalgic pain, and cancer, including hemato logic and solid tumors. 2 The ease of attributing orofacial pain to the TMJ may be why tumors can initially be con sidered unlikely in the differential diagnosis until the pain becomes intractable.3 Additionally, the initial use without success of conservative therapeutic management approa ches such as physical therapy, analgesics, and muscle re laxants then alerts the clinician to consider the possibility of tumorassociated pain.This is even more the case in the absence of swelling, ulceration, or peripheral lymph adenopathy.Several case reports have shown that head and neck cancers and metastatic cancer to the head and neck region can present with pain that closely mimics TMD.1,4 Some of these findings were later diagnosed as nasopharyngeal carcinoma, oral cancer, adenocystic carcinoma, or oro pharyngeal carcinoma.2,4,5 Due to the anatomical location of the oropharynx and adjacent structures, it is not an area easily visualized by the patient.Furthermore, tumors in this area are painless at an early stage.Therefore, it is not unusual for an oropharyngeal tumor to eventually be detected either incidentally during diagnostic imaging or when surrounding structures are invaded, causing dyspha gia, dysphonia, otalgia, or facial pain. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an essential toolIncidental finding of an extensive oropharyngeal mass in magnetic resonance imaging of a patient with temporomandibular disorder: A case report
Source: Imaging Science in Dentistry
Institution: University of Pennsylvania
Language: English
Subfield: Complementary and Manual Therapy
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $276
OpenAlex ID: W2566876237