The occurrence of PVNS in the TMJ is very rare. We report a case of PVNS which was misdiagnosed as a parotid tumor at first. CT and conventional radiograph revealed a well defined mass demonstrating higher attenuation than adjacent soft tissue. Erosion and expansion of the cortical plate of the mandibular condyle and sclerotic change beneath the margin of the lesion were also shown. MRI demonstrated well defined mass of very low signal intensity on both Tl and T2-weighted images due to ferromagnetic effect of the high concentrated hemosiderin and clearly delineated the extent of the lesion. Histopathologic findings and characteristic appearance of the various imaging methods were described and the usefulness of these images for diagnosis and pretreatment evaluation of PVNS were also discussed.