Purpose or Case Report: Review CT and MR imaging protocols in imaging children with sensorineural hearing loss.
Review normal anatomy of the inner ear.
Discuss the role of CT and MR imaging in the evaluation of children with sensorineural hearing loss.
Describe CT and MR imaging features of congenital inner ear malformations; with emphasis on what radiologists need to include in their report for patients considered for cochlear implantation.
Methods & Materials: This is a descriptive, retrospective, observational educational review. We use our experience in imaging children with sensorineural hearing loss to discuss the role of CT and MR in imaging children with sensorineural hearing loss. We also use cases from our institute to illustrate the imaging features of inner ear malformations.
Results: IMAGING PROTOCOLS OF THE TEMPORAL BONE.
NORMAL ANATOMY OF THE INNER EAR.
MALFORMATIONS OF THE INNER EAR.
Complete Labyrinthine Aplasia.
Cochlear Aplasia.
Common Cavity.
Type I Incomplete Partition.
Cochlear Hypoplasia.
Type II Incomplete Partition.
Malformations of the Vestibule and Semicircular Canals.
Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct.
IAC and Cochlear Nerve Anomalies.
IMPLICATIONS OF IMAGING ABNORMALITIES FOR COCHLEAR IMPLANTATION
CONCLUSIONS
Conclusions: A clear understanding of the anatomy of the inner ear and the standard classification systems for describing inner ear malformations are fundamental to the interpretation of CT and MR images. Certain abnormalities are better depicted on CT while others are better seen on MRI. The identification of this type of malformation at radiologic imaging heavily influences both the clinical management strategy and the prognosis.