Hypoplasia of the bony canal for the cochlear nerve in patients with congenital sensorineural hearing loss: initial observations

• Published in: Radiology Vol. 215; no. 1; p. 243
• Main Authors: Fatterpekar, G M, Mukherji, S K, Alley, J, Lin, Y, Castillo, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-04-2000
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Child; Child, Preschool; Cochlear Nerve - abnormalities; Cochlear Nerve - diagnostic imaging; Cochlear Nerve - pathology; Cohort Studies; Female; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural - congenital; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural - diagnostic imaging; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural - pathology; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Petrous Bone - abnormalities; Petrous Bone - diagnostic imaging; Petrous Bone - innervation; Retrospective Studies; Statistics, Nonparametric; Temporal Bone - abnormalities; Temporal Bone - diagnostic imaging; Temporal Bone - innervation; Tomography, X-Ray Computed
• ISSN: 0033-8419
• DOI: 10.1148/radiology.215.1.r00ap36243

To evaluate the length and width of the bony canal of the cochlear nerve in patients with congenital sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) who have "normal" findings at thin-section computed tomography (CT) of the temporal bone.
The authors retrospectively evaluated the length and width of the bony canal for the cochlear nerve in two groups of patients. The first group was composed of 33 patients with profound SNHL and no demonstrable abnormality at thin-section CT. The control group was composed of 50 patients who underwent temporal bone CT for causes unrelated to SNHL. The mean value +/- SD was calculated for both cohorts. Statistical analysis consisted of the nonparametric Wilcoxon rank sum test with the NPAR1WAY program.
The length and width of the bony canal for the cochlear nerve were significantly smaller in patients with SNHL than in the control group (P <.05)
The hypoplastic bony canal for the cochlear nerve in patients with SNHL may be indicative of a previously unrecognized embryologic malformation of the cochlear nerve.