Temporomandibular joint structures: a comparison between anatomic and magnetic resonance findings in a coronal and an angulated coronal plane.

Two temporomandibular joints originating from one specimen were investigated using magnetic resonance imaging and cryosectioning. Magnetic resonance images, photographs of the surface of the tissue block, and on-tape sections were compared. The left joint was imaged and sectioned in a sagittal plane, the right joint in a plane perpendicular to the long axis of the condyle. The densely plaited fibrous tissue of the disc proper correlated extremely well with the low signal intensity in magnetic resonance imaging. The transition between the densely plaited fibrous tissue and the looser tissue of the posterior attachment was located anterior to the thickest part of the intra-articular tissues in most sections of the specimen. The temporomandibular joint disc could be seen in angulated as well as in sagittal magnetic resonance scans. The posterior band was imaged best in angulated magnetic resonance scans throughout the temporomandibular joint.