Is the lateral angle of the internal acoustic canal sexually dimorphic in non-adults? An investigation by routine cranial magnetic resonance imaging.

The lateral angle of the internal acoustic canal is one of the measurements of petrous bone that has been previously studied for sex estimation, mostly in adults. We aimed at evaluating the effects of age, side, and sex on the lateral angle of the internal acoustic canal in pediatric patients. Pediatric routine cranial MRI studies were retrospectively investigated for this study. The lateral angle was measured on T2-weighted axial images when the anterior and posterior lips of the meatus and the cochlea were clearly visible on the same image. The data were evaluated for age, side and sex-related changes. Although 552 temporal bones from 273 patients were inspected, due to exclusion criteria lateral angle could be satisfactorily measured only in 101 temporal bones from 58 patients. The measurements did not differ significantly between sexes. An age-related, statistically significant decrease was observed for the entire pediatric sample studied, as well as for the males, but not for females. The measurements did not differ from side to side. The significant age-related decrease in lateral angle in male pediatric patients that was not detected in female counterparts may be the reflection of a sex-related difference in temporal bone development during childhood. Routine cranial MRI data may help investigators study age and sex-related changes in lateral angle in children.