Blood flow in and around the masseter muscle: normal and pathologic features demonstrated by color Doppler sonography.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to clarify the normal findings of arteries in and around the masseter muscle and to present their pathologic changes with the use of color Doppler sonography.


METHODS
The vascular appearances were examined for the 4 main arteries feeding the masseter muscle in healthy volunteers (n = 38) and patients with inflammation (n = 5) and intramuscular hemangioma (n = 3). The features of these arteries were investigated together with the flow diameter, flow velocities, and arterial resistances. The symmetry indices were also calculated to assess the pathologic changes.


RESULTS
The detection rates of the branch from the transverse facial artery, the masseter artery, and the branch from the maxillary or external carotid artery were 98.7%, 21.1%, and 84.2% in healthy volunteers, respectively. The facial artery that feeds the muscle from the inferior part represented 2 patterns according to anatomic variant: the masseteric branch (22.4%) and the main trunk itself (77.6%). The means of the flow diameter, maximum and minimum velocities, resistive index, and pulsatility index in healthy subjects were 1.8 mm, 24.6 cm/s, 5.1 cm/s, 0.80, and 2.51, respectively. In most of the patients with symptoms, the symmetry indices of all measurement values increased in comparison with those of healthy volunteers.


CONCLUSIONS
Color Doppler sonography is useful in describing the arteries in and around the masseter muscle and has the potential of being used to depict the pathologic changes.
Ariji
Y
Y
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, School of Dentistry, Aichi-Gakuin Universityn Nagoya, Japan. yoshiko@dpc.aichi-gakuin.ac.jp
Kimura
Y
Y
Gotoh
M
M
Sakuma
S
S
Zhao
Y P
YP
Ariji
E
E
D000328:Adult; D001158:Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D002342:Carotid Artery, External / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006391:Hemangioma / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008406:Masseter Muscle / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008875:Middle Aged; D019042:Muscle Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009220:Myositis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color