Pneumatization of the petrous apex was investigated in 226 subjects without middle ear disease by means of target imaging CT. The degree of pneumatization of all subjects was 32.7% (148/452 ears), but no difference in degree was revealed with distinction of bilateral ears or between sexes. In 148 ears with pneumatization of the petrous apex, a higher degree of pneumatization was found in larger...

Background and Importance Transtegmental brain herniation into the petrous bone is a rare cause of rhinoliquorrhea. Our case presents a combination of several typical clinical and imaging findings illustrating the ongoing etiologic discussion of such cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) fistulas. Clinical Presentation A 53-year-old man presented with nasal discharge after a strong effort to suppress cough...

Petrous apicitis is a rare but fatal complication of otitis media. An infection within the middle ear can extend within the temporal bone into the air cells of the petrous apex. With only the thin dura mater separating the trigeminal ganglion and the 6th cranial nerve from the bony petrous apex, they are vulnerable to inflammatory processes, resulting in deep facial pain, lateral rectus muscle ...

BACKGROUND Lesions of the petroclival fissure are difficult to access surgically. Both retrosigmoid and presigmoid retrolabyrinthine approaches have been described to successfully treat these complex tumors. The retrosigmoid approach offers quick and familiar access, whereas the presigmoid retrolabyrinthine approach reduces the operative distance and the need for cerebellar retraction. The pres...

CT and MR imaging findings were reviewed in four cases of acquired cholesteatoma of the middle ear that extended medially into the petrous apex and middle cranial fossa. In one case the lesion further extended anteromedially into the sphenoid sinus. CT demonstrated the lesions as nonenhancing hypodense masses with bone destruction, extending medially from the middle ear cavity to the petrous ap...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS This study evaluates the feasibility of the transsphenoidal approach to petrous apex cholesterol granuloma based on the petrous angle. This is the angle centered at the vomer, extending between the medial aspect of the C3 segment of the internal carotid artery and the occipital protuberance. The aim of this study is to determine the average petrous angle in a population of...

Materials and methods A CT-Scan of a volunteer without pathology in relation with the Petrous bone was used to build a numerical model. Using Scan2Mesh [6], a tool dedicated to the generation of a mesh from medical data, 169 slices separated by a thickness of 0.6 millimeters were processed, using an automatic detection method based on thresholding. Then an anatomist checked the detected contour...

Otitis media (OM) is an infection localized in the middle ear: mastoid, middle ear cavity, Eustachian tube. The classification of OM includes otitis media with effusion, otitis media without effusion, and chronic otitis media. A rare complication of chronic otitis is cholesterol granuloma of the petrous apex. It may develop in any aerated portion of the temporal bone but most commonly develops ...

Skull base chondrosarcomas are challenging lesions to treat. In this manuscript, we present a brief overview about this clinical entity. Furthermore, we present an illustrated case with chondrosarcoma of the petrous bone and highlight microsurgical treatment options. Introduction Skull base tumours are challenging, and neurosurgeons and ENT specialists probably find these lesions the most diffi...