OBJECTIVE: To study the reliability of curved planar reformatted (CPR) CT of the facial nerve canal. METHOD: Twenty-two adult head cadavers with 40 sides of temporal bone were examined by CT of high resolution and curved planar reformatted CT, then were anatomized. The length, diameter and two angles were measured both on the image of CPR and cadavers, as well as the course and aberrance of the facial nerve canal were investigated. RESULT: (1) The total number of the malformation sides were 34, the percentage was 85%. Among them, 23 sides were aberrant, 14 sides were dehiscent, 2 sides were bifurcate, 3 sides were partially expanding. (2) The images of CPR could accurately reveal and measure the dehiscence of the horizontal, vertical segment and the expanse. The axial and coronary of CPR were super excellent at disclosing the dehiscence of the first geniculation, especially the axial CPR. (3) The images of CPR could accurately and intuitionisticly reveal the aberrance with angle. CONCLUSION: The CPR of high resolution computed tomography was a super excellent method to study the radioanatomy of the facial nerve canal,and can partially replace the anatomical measurement and modality observation of the facial nerve canal.
OBJECTIVE: To study the reliability of curved planar reformatted (CPR) CT of the facial nerve canal. METHOD: Twenty-two adult head cadavers with 40 sides of temporal bone were examined by CT of high resolution and curved planar reformatted CT, then were anatomized. The length, diameter and two angles were measured both on the image of CPR and cadavers, as well as the course and aberrance of the facial nerve canal were investigated. RESULT: (1) The total number of the malformation sides were 34, the percentage was 85%. Among them, 23 sides were aberrant, 14 sides were dehiscent, 2 sides were bifurcate, 3 sides were partially expanding. (2) The images of CPR could accurately reveal and measure the dehiscence of the horizontal, vertical segment and the expanse. The axial and coronary of CPR were super excellent at disclosing the dehiscence of the first geniculation, especially the axial CPR. (3) The images of CPR could accurately and intuitionisticly reveal the aberrance with angle. CONCLUSION: The CPR of high resolution computed tomography was a super excellent method to study the radioanatomy of the facial nerve canal,and can partially replace the anatomical measurement and modality observation of the facial nerve canal.