Morphological analysis of the vestibular aqueduct by computerized tomography images
Received 29 March 2006; received in revised form 22 August 2006; accepted 24 August 2006.
Abstract
Objective
In the last two decades, advances in the computerized tomography (CT) field revise the internal and medium ear evaluation. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the morphology and morphometric aspects of the vestibular aqueduct on the basis of computerized tomography images (CTI).
Material and method
Computerized tomography images of vestibular aqueducts were acquired from patients (n=110) with an age range of 1–92 years. Thereafter, from the vestibular aqueducts images a morphometric analysis was performed. Through a computerized image processing system, the vestibular aqueduct measurements comprised of its area, external opening, length and the distance from the vestibular aqueduct to the internal acoustic meatus.
Results
The morphology of the vestibular aqueduct may be funnel-shaped, filiform or tubular and the respective proportions were found to be at 44%, 33% and 22% in children and 21.7%, 53.3% and 25% in adults. The morphometric data showed to be of 4.86mm2 of area, 2.24mm of the external opening, 4.73mm of length and 11.88mm of the distance from the vestibular aqueduct to the internal acoustic meatus, in children, and in adults it was of 4.93mm2, 2.09mm, 4.44mm, and 11.35mm, respectively.
Conclusions
Computerized tomography showed that the vestibular aqueduct presents high morphological variability. The morphometric analysis showed that the differences found between groups of children and adults or between groups of both genders were not statistically significant.
aMorphology and Genetics Department, São Paulo Federal University-Paulista Medical School, Disciplina de Anatomia Descritiva e Topográfica, Rua Botucatu, 740-Edifício Leitão da Cunha, CEP 04023-900, Vila Clementino, São Paulo, Brazil
bInstitute of Physics, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
cOtorhinolaryngology Department, São Paulo Federal University-Paulista Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
dImage Diagnosis Department, São Paulo Federal University-Paulista Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
ABSTRACT