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The objective of this study was to assess the value of cone-beam computed tomographic (CT) images in the primary diagnosis and management of 128 outpatients with disorders of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Before a diagnosis was made and treatment planned, the history was taken, physical examination made, and the orthopantomogram studied. After assessment of the cone-beam CT, the oral and maxillofacial surgeon (specialist or resident) was allowed to revise the provisional primary diagnosis and management. The degree of certainty was rated by the clinician before and after the cone-beam CT had been assessed. The primary diagnosis was changed in 32 patients (25%), additional diagnostic procedures were changed in 57 (45%), and the treatment was changed in 15 (12%) (in 4 the treatment was changed to a (minimally) invasive procedure). A total of 74 patients (58%) had their diagnosis and management changed after the cone-beam CT had been assessed. Changes in diagnosis and management were clinically relevant in 9/32 and 9/61 patients, respectively. The clinician's certainty about the primary diagnosis increased after the cone-beam CT had been assessed in 57 patients. Logistic regression analysis showed that the odds in favour of changes in primary diagnosis and management increased when limited mandibular function was a primary symptom, the patient was taking medication for pain, and the articular eminence could not be assessed on OPT. Assessment of cone-beam CT led to changes in primary diagnosis and management in more than half the patients with disorders of the TMJ., (Copyright © 2013 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We aimed to determine by non-invasive EMG, whether during exercise: (1) COPD patients increase scalene and intercostal EMG activity, (2) increased EMG activity is associated with increased dyspnea, and (3) the ratio between EMG activity and volume displacement is increased in COPD compared to healthy subjects (HS). During a maximal incremental cycle test, scalene and intercostal EMG was derived transcutaneously in 17 COPD patients and 10 HS. Dyspnea was quantified using a Borg scale, ranging from zero to 10 (maximal dyspnea). For analyses the ratio between inspiratory muscle activity during exercise and activity during quiet breathing was used (logEMGAR). In COPD patients, scalene and intercostal activity increased at greater rate early in exercise compared to that of the HS. With a doubling of the logEMGAR, in COPD, dyspnea increased with 2.8/3.8 points, while in the HS, dyspnea increased less with 1.1/1.4 points. In COPD, there was a larger increase in EMG activity relatively to tidal volume increases.