Clival Length as a Predictor of the Size of the Transclival, Petrous Apex, and Translabyrinthine Corridors in Adults

The transclival, petrous apex, and translabyrinthine corridors are an integral part of the skull base surgeon armamentarium to access the petroclival region. We present a model that uses the clival length to predict the size of these corridors. Seventy-six computed tomography scans of head were selected. Exclusion criteria included patients <18 years of age, radiographic evidence of trauma, neoplasm, infection, or previous surgery. The images were analyzed using OsiriX MD (Bernex, Switzerland). We measured the clival length and clival surface area, and the volume of the petrous apex and translabyrinthine corridors. We used univariate linear regression to create a prediction model with cross folding to test the validity of the model. The average age was 49 years, 44% were female. The mean clival length and surface area were 44.2 mm and 8.1 cm², respectively. The mean PA and TL volume was 2.2 and 10.1 cm³, respectively. The clival length correlated positively with the clival surface area, PA, and TL volumes (rho = 0.6, 0.3, and 0.3, respectively, p < 0.05;. Using the clival length, our model showed good fitness and validity in predicting the size of the transclival, petrous apex, and translabyrinthine corridors. It can be used clinically to help guide neurosurgeons to choose the optimal surgical corridor using patients' anatomy.

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).

Publication History

Article published online:
12 February 2021