Anastomoses of the vestibular, cochlear, and facial nerves

• Published in: The Journal of craniofacial surgery Vol. 23; no. 5; pp. 1358 - 1361
• Main Authors: Ünel, Sacide, Yilmaz, Mehmet, Albayram, Sait, Işık, Zehra, Ceyhan, Elvan, Isildak, Huseyin, Teixido, Michael, Savas, Yildiray, Kiris, Adem
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-09-2012
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Child; Cochlear Nerve - anatomy & histology; Cochlear Nerve - surgery; Dentistry; Ear Diseases - diagnosis; Ear Diseases - surgery; Facial Nerve - anatomy & histology; Facial Nerve - surgery; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Microsurgery - methods; Middle Aged; Temporal Bone - innervation; Vestibular Nerve - anatomy & histology; Vestibular Nerve - surgery
• ISSN: 1049-2275; 1536-3732
• DOI: 10.1097/SCS.0b013e31824e63fe

The internal auditory canal (IAC) is 10 to 17 mm in length, and the facial nerve and vestibulocochlear nerve, which consist of the cochlear nerve, the superior vestibular nerve, and the inferior vestibular nerve, run together in the IAC packaged in dura mater. Oort first described the vestibulocochlear anastomoses in 1918, which is important for the understanding of the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of otologic disorders. The current study documents the existence of vestibulofacial and vestibulocochlear neural connections and topographical relationship of the nerves as part of a radiologic evaluation of 73 human temporal bones from brainstem to the lateral portion of IAC.