Clinical application of multislice spiral CT for temporal bone and multiple post-processing reconstruction techniques for infant cochlear implantation

Objective: To investigate the clinical application value of multislice spiral CT(MSCT) for temporal bone and multiple post-processing reconstruction techniques for infant cochlear implantation. Methods: Fifty preoperative patients and two postoperative patients with severe sensorineural heating loss(SNHL) underwent high-resolution temporal bone MSCT. Double-threshold reconstruction, transparent imaging and three-dimensional fusion, double-oblique diameter muhiplanar reconstruction, and curved planar reconstruction were used to measure the distance between the vertical facial nerve and external acoustic canal and the round window breadth, as well as analyze the inner ear structure. Results: (1)Out of 50 preoperative patients, 7 showed inner ear malformations, 9 presented chronic tympanomastoiditis, and 34 exhibited normal ear structure. The probability of inner ear malformations was 14.0%. Before cochlear implantation, the inner ear structure and ossicular chain were clearly observed in all the patients enrolled in this study. The distance between the vertical facial nerve and external acoustic canal was(0.33 ± 0.057) cm on the right side and (0.33 ± 0.068) cm on the left side.The round window breadth was(0.14±0.027) cm on the fight side and (0.14 ± 0.025) cm on the left side. (2)The electrodes and postoperative changes were clearly detected in two patients with cochlear implants. Conclusions: Inner ear malformations were clearly shown by high-resolution temporal bone scanning in a number of SNHL patients. Multiple post-processing techniques can significantly obtain precise information on the temporal anatomical structure before cochlear implantation and provide accurate assessment of the operation. (authors)