Anatomical study between the correlation of the arcuate eminence and the superior semicircular canal

Abstract

Objective To study the anatomical correlation between the arcuate eminence and the superior semicircular canal. Material and methods A study of the height of the arcuate eminence was carried out in 295 temporal bones. In addition, 30 temporals with different heights of the arcuate eminence (10 flat, 10 prominent and 10 very prominent) were randomly selected and radiological tests were performed by computed tomography (Pöschl projection) and subsequent dissection by milling until the apex of the superior semicircular canal was found, establishing, with both methods, the anatomical relationship with the arcuate eminence. Results The arcuate eminence was classified as: smooth, when there was no relief (1.7%); flat, measured less than 1 mm (20.3%), prominent, measured between 1 and 2 mm, in (62%), and very prominent, measured above 2 mm (12.6%). The tomographic study (CT) and its subsequent dissection by bone milling showed a direct relationship between the arcuate eminence and the semicircular canal only when it was flat, while the rest of the types corresponded to the presence of pneumatized peri-labyrinthine cells and/or cancellous bone without a direct anatomical relationship with the apex of the superior semicircular canal. Conclusion The correlation between the arcuate eminence and the superior semicircular canal is direct only when it is flat (1 mm), being related to peri-labyrinthine cells and/or cancellous bone when the arcuate eminence is prominent or very prominent.

Three-dimensional imaging for the localization of related anatomical structures during surgery on the internal auditory canal

“…Additional factors that may affect the ability to extrapolate from the results presented here include the fact that the sample size of the study was small, and sampling errors may have affected the results. Research continues to expand on this issue in an attempt to refine the crucial relationship between the arcuate eminence and superior semicircular canal, with the latest data suggesting that the relationship is direct only when the arcuate eminence is flat, and is further dependent on the perilabyrinthine cells and cancellous bone around these two structures [ 19 ].…”