Patency of the cochlear aqueduct.

The patency of the cochlear aqueduct is discussed against the background of radioanatomic studies of 225 plastic casts of temporal bone specimens and additional experimental and clinical observations. The occasional presence of a wide venous channel running parallel with the cochlear aqueduct, as well as the existence of up to three accompanying venous channels can simulate a pathologically wide cochlear aqueduct radiographically. This could constitute a diagnostic pitfall in the absence of other clinical and radiographic signs of malformation.