Contribution of anatomical criteria to surgical approach for treatment of bilateral coronoid hyperplasia.

INTRODUCTION: Bilateral coronoid hyperplasia is a rare condition characterized by a progressive and painless limitation of mouth opening. The treatment consists of coronoidectomy by intraoral or coronal approach. There is no recommendation in the literature on the choice of the surgical approach according to the importance of the hypertrophy. The objective of our study is to search for predictive anatomical criteria of each approach. MATERIAL AND METHODS: These anatomical criteria were evaluated from 3D CT facial reconstructions of 4 male patients aged 4 to 30 years retrospectively after their surgery. A single intraoral approach was used for cases 1 and 2 (group A), a double approach for cases 3 and 4 (group B). Same measurements were performed on 10 male case controls (group C). We performed a descriptive analysis of our results due to an insufficient number of patients. RESULTS: The average width of the coronal processes was much greater in group B, when a double approach was necessary, than in groups A and C. In groups A and B, the average height of the coronoid notch is low compared to group C when there is a need for a coronal approach. The width/TZS ratio is increased in group B compared to group C. DISCUSSION: In our study, 3 criteria could be informative for the choice of the surgical approach: the width at the superior end of the coronoid process, the width/TZS ratio and the height of the coronoid notch but additional data are needed to confirm our therapeutic options.