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Radiological patterns of the bony roof of the superior semicircular canal

  • Anatomic Bases of Medical, Radiological and Surgical Techniques
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Abstract

Objectives

To study the radiological patterns of the bony roof of the superior semicircular canal with a view for obtaining readily applicable conclusions.

Design

84 patients (163 petrous bones) have been studied by Multi-slice Helical Computed tomography (Philips Brilliance 6). We have determined the distribution of the different types of bone cover of the superior semicircular canal, taking some previously notified, standardised measurements of normality as reference.

Results

During the analysis of the roof of the superior semicircular canal, we have distinguished five different types, depending on their thickness and tomodensitometric aspect. Normal pattern in 121 cases (74.2 %), with a thickness of between 0.6 and 1.7 mm, papyraceous pattern or fine thickness ≤0.5 mm that appears in 23 of our cases (14.1 %), thick pattern ≥1.8 mm that we have observed in 11 cases (6.7 %), and pneumatised pattern in 5 cases (3.1 %), which is characterised by having supralabyerinthine cells. Finally, a dehiscent pattern was observed in three cases (1.8 %).

Conclusion

We describe five patterns of superior semicircular canal roofs: normal, thick, papyraceous, pneumatised and dehiscent. The papyraceous type and the dehiscent type would be subject to producing pathology, and in some cases the latter could be a consequence of the former.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Anatomy and Histology, School of Medicine, University of Zaragoza, C/Domingo Miral, s/n, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain

    Ana Isabel Cisneros, Jaime Whyte & Jesús Obón

  2. Department of Radiology, Hospital General de la Defensa, Zaragoza, Spain

    Claudio Martínez

  3. Department of Animal Pathology, School of Veterinary, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    Ana Whyte

  4. Bilbao Clinic, Bilbao, Vizcaya, Spain

    Rafael Crovetto

  5. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Basurto Hospital, Bilbao, Spain

    Miguel Ángel Crovetto

Authors
  1. Ana Isabel Cisneros
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  2. Jaime Whyte
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  3. Claudio Martínez
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  4. Jesús Obón
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  5. Ana Whyte
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  6. Rafael Crovetto
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  7. Miguel Ángel Crovetto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ana Isabel Cisneros.

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Cisneros, A.I., Whyte, J., Martínez, C. et al. Radiological patterns of the bony roof of the superior semicircular canal. Surg Radiol Anat 35, 61–65 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-012-1019-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-012-1019-7

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