Anatomy of the petrous portion of the temporal bone

The complexity of the anatomy of the petrous portion of the temporal bone with the crossing nerval, vascular, and muscular structures together with the important parts of the human vestibulocochlear organ poses challenges in clinical routine, especially in the preoperative diagnostic workup. In particular, the presence of standard anatomical variations bears a higher risk of intraoperative injuries. MRI and CT examinations are important image-based diagnostic methods in the detection of neoplastic, traumatic and inflammatory lesions of the petrous part of the temporal bone. These kinds of methods are absolutely necessary for the identification of the entity of the lesion, the extent of the infiltration, possible bone involvement or the presence of standard anatomical variations.