[Chondrocalcinosis of the temporomandibular joint revealed by a hearing loss: a case report].

INTRODUCTION

Chondrocalcinosis is a microcrystalline arthropathy that principally affects the knee. It is a rare disorder, usually asymptomatic, that occurs mainly in the elderly people.

PURPOSE: To report a case of a temporomandibular joint chondrocalcinosis with ossicular contact revealed by a conductive hearing loss.

CASE REPORT: We describe the case of a 57-year-old man with a right conductive sudden hearing loss of 15 dB. The CT scan revealed a lytic lesion in the right attic extended to the middle cerebral fossa in contact with the ossicles with a suspicion of lysis of the head of the malleus. MRI showed a lesion enhancing after gadolinium injection on T1 weighted images. A biopsy revealed a chondrocalcinosis of the temporomandibular joint. Due to the complexity of surgical excision and the benin character of the lesion, a medical treatment and a radiologic follow-up every six months were proposed.

CONCLUSION

Chondrocalcinosis of the temporo-mandibular joint is rare especially when it is revealed by a hearing loss. We present here a review of the literature.