Imaging of the facial canal by means of multiplanar angulated 2-D-high-resolution CT-reconstruction.

The facial canal containing the intratemporal portion of the facial nerve is very important for the otologist and radiologist concerning fractures and other lesions of the temporal bone. Axial and/or coronal standards are sufficient for imaging of the labyrinthine and the mastoidal segment of the facial canal. The sensitivity of visualization (sensitivity = number of identified structures per number of examinations) of the tympanic segment, however, is low and particularly the pyramidal segment (elbow, posterior knee) is not visualized in these standards. Based on anatomical considerations a new plain for imaging both the tympanic and mastoidal segment in continuity was obtained. The pyramido-longitudinal plain is achieved by a twice angulated 2-D-reconstruction based on axial high-resolution CT-scans.