Three-dimensional CT of the ossicles of the middle ear

This study was performed to evaluate the usefulness and limitations of three-dimensional (3-D) imaging of the ossicular chain in the middle ear by high speed helical CT. One dissected human temporal bone, five normal ears, and twelve diseased ears (trauma, ossicular anomaly, cholesteatoma, chronic otitis media) were scanned in 1.0 mm slices and reconstructed at a thickness of 0.2-0.5 mm. All 3-D CT specimens can be observed in any plane and from any direction. Ossicular 3-D CT temporal bone images were reconstructed as if the malleus, incus and stapes were being observed under a microscope. No defect in the ossicles or their joints was seen in the images. The entire structure of the stapes could not be represented by conventional two-dimensional CT, but the 3-D CT in our study showed the head, crus and foot plate of the stapes in detail. Ossicular 3-D CT images of normal ears yielded the same findings as those recorded in the temporal bone. Preoperative diagnostic findings of ossicles in diseased ears were very useful. 3-D CT was diagnostic and its accuracy was confirmed by surgical observations, especially in ossicular anomalies. 3-D CT was also an important method of postoperative evaluation of ossicular reconstruction, i.e. TORP and PORP. It could represent the anatomical relation between prosthesis and the oval window. Postoperative hearing improvement can be compared with 3-D CT findings. High-speed helical CT can scan an object more quickly and clearly than conventional CT, and its biological damage in humans is less than that of other methods. 3-D CT allows obviously clearer reconstruction by helical CT than the other methods. (author)