Quantitative Assessment of Surgical Anatomy and Three-Dimensional Relationships in the Supralabyrinthine Space.

OBJECTIVE: To explore and quantify the surgically relevant anatomic relationships and three-dimensional (3D) morphology of the supralabyrinthine space, and enable a deeper, clearer understanding of its regional anatomy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: 3D-DOCTOR software was used to create a 3D reconstruction of the axial CT images and multiplanar reformatting of 55 slices of temporal bone in 29 patients (17 males and 12 females), whose average age was 38.69 ± 17.81 years. The 3D relationships between the mutual complex structures were displayed graphically and measured.

RESULTS: The important structures within the temporal bone were displayed in detail. 3D relationships between the structures in the temporal bone, such as the ossicles, facial nerves, labyrinth, and skull base, were quantified.

CONCLUSION: Quantification of surgically relevant anatomic relationships and the morphology of the supralabyrinthine space in three dimensions are very helpful in surgical dissection.