The petrous bone is a strategic area within the skull base. The cochlea and the carotid artery canal are extremely close to each other within that area. Pulsatile tinnitus requires intact hearing and usually source of sound. It can be arterial or venous in origin, or originating in-between. The aim of this study was to use the MDCT in measurement of the thickness of the bony plate between the internal carotid artery and cochlea within the skull base in patients with pulsatile tinnitus showing no other detectable etiology on MDCT basis as well as for detection of any bony dehiscence involving this bony plate.
Results
This study was conducted on 8 adult patients. The dehiscences ranged between 0.7 and 1.7 mm (average 1.04 mm). Two male patients showed bilateral dehiscences together with excessive pneumatization of both petrous apices. Six female patients showed only unilateral dehiscences. In the controls, the internal carotid artery to cochlea (ICA/Ch) distance ranged from 0.59 mm to 3.1 mm and was 1.618 mm in average. The dehiscences were more common in female. However when they occur in males, they tend to be bilateral and seems to be predisposed by excessive pneumatization of both petrous apices.
Keywords
Carotid artery
Cochlear dehiscence
Pulsatile tinnitus
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Peer review under responsibility of The Egyptian Society of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine.