Diffusion tensor imaging reveals morphological alterations of the lateral pterygoid muscle in patients with mandibular asymmetry.

Objectives: To evaluate non-invasively the morphological features of both lateral pterygoid muscle (LPM) and masseter muscle by using diffusion tensor Imaging on two patients affected by mandibular asymmetry.

Methods: Two female patients with mandibular excess and asymmetry who underwent Le Fort I osteotomy and bilateral sagittal split osteotomy were recruited for this study. Morphological (T weighted) and diffusion weighted images were acquired with a 3T scanner 1 week before (T0) and 1 month after the surgery (T1).

Patients with bisphosphonates-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw have reduced circulating endothelial cells.

Osteonecrosis of the jaws (ONJ) associated with the use of bisphosphonates is a newly described entity. To elucidate the mechanism leading to ONJ and to test the hypothesis that in patients with ONJ the bisphosphonates may interfere with endothelial cell proliferation, using flow cytometric analysis we evaluated the number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and circulating endothelial cells (CECs) in eight patients with bisphosphonate treatment and osteonecrosis, eight multiple myeloma (MM) patients with bisphosphonates treatment without ONJ and five normal subjects. MM patients showed an increase of CD34+ cells with respect the control subjects and ONJ subjects.