Superior canal dehiscence syndrome – A comparative postmortem multislice computed tomography study

Introduction:

The superior canal dehiscence syndrome (SCDS) is characterized by the missing bony coverage of the superior canal against the bony middle fossa. The gold standard in the diagnosis is the high-resolution computed tomography (CT). The differences between the radiological result and the anatomical situation may lead to different estimations with consecutive omitted or unnecessary therapy, i.e. surgical therapy. This study aims to compare post-mortem CT scans with autopsy findings with regard to SCDS.

Methods:

22 non-traumatic death cases within a three-months period (January to March 2017) were included with 44 temporal bones (TB). Each body underwent a postmortem CT prior to medicolegal autopsy. The middle fossa was exposed and the superior semi-circular canal dehiscence was identified and measured, if present. In each case, three comparable photographs were taken during the autopsy (left temporal bone, right temporal bone, overview).

Results:

Autopsy findings revealed bony dehiscences in 11% of the TB, whereas 15% showed bony dehiscences in the CT scans. The length of the dehiscences were imposed slightly greater on the CT scans than in the autopsy findings.

Conclusions:

The diagnosis of the SCDS requires a high resolution computed tomography along with clinical symptoms. Our study underlines the mismatch between radiological findings and the real appearance of the SCDS.

Publication History

Publication Date:
18 April 2018 (online)