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CC BY 4.0 · Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2024; 28(03): e387-e393
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1786827
Original Research

The Role of Computed Tomography in the Diagnosis of Congenital Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Mauricio Buschle 
1   Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
2   Hospital Iguaçu, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
,
Rogerio Hamerschmidt 
1   Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
,
Jorge Eduardo Fouto Matias 
1   Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
,
Otavio Pereira Lima Zanini 
1   Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
2   Hospital Iguaçu, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
,
Luiz Otavio de Mattos Coelho 
3   Diagnóstico Avançado por Imagem – DAPI, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
,
Jose Fernando Polanski 
1   Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
4   Faculdade Evangélica Mackenzie do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
› Author Affiliations Funding The authors received no financial support for the present research.
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Abstract

Introduction One of the paths in the investigation of congenital sensorineural hearing loss (CSNHL) is to try to characterize its etiology through the inner ear evaluation using high resolution computer tomography (CT) scans. With minor malformation, it is not always possible for a simple visual inspection to recognize if the structure in the inner ear is normal or not.

Objective To verify if measurements of the inner ear are predictive of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and suggest cutoff points of size limits.

Methods Retrospective cross-sectional study of inner ear CT scan measurements of 214 patients, 50 with congenital SNHL (CSNHL) and 164 acquired SNHL (ASNHL) (control group).

Results In the CSNHL group, central bony island (CBI) were 0.48 mm smaller (p < 0.001), cochlear nerve aperture was (CNA) 0.10 mm smaller (p < 0.001), and cochlea height was (CH) 0.15 mm smaller (p < 0.001). Vestibular aqueduct (VA) and cochlea width (CW) were similar between groups (0.70 vs 0.72, p = 0.19, and 7.20 vs 7.15 p = 0.23). The predictive cutoff points for CSNHL were CBI = 3.6 mm, CAN = 1.4 mm, CH = 3.4 mm, CW = 7.0 mm, and VA = 0.9 mm.

Conclusion Congenital sensorineural hearing loss determined a decrease in CBI, opening of the cochlear nerve (OCN), and CW. Thus, these measures, at the cutoff points indicated, should make us aware of the diagnosis of congenital hearing loss.

Keywords

sensorineural hearing loss - congenital - temporal bone - tomography


Publication History

Received: 25 January 2023

Accepted: 30 July 2023

Article published online:
07 June 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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