Postnatal developmental changes in facial nerve morphology. Computer-aided 3-D reconstruction and measurement.

Accurate measurements of the lengths and angles of the facial nerve were obtained in eight normal human temporal bones of varying ages from 7 days to 76 years. Measurements were made on serial histological sections, using computer-aided three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction. The most noteworthy of the findings demonstrated that both the mastoid portion of the facial nerve and the segment of the facial nerve between the second genu and the divergence of the chorda tympani nerve lengthened with age. The mastoid segment lengthened more significantly than the latter, indicating the facial canal grows more than the facial nerve in its mastoid portion. This difference in growth rates results in the site of the chorda tympani nerve divergence shifting with age relative to the stylomastoid foramen.