High-resolution computed tomography for evaluation of temporal bone diseases

Abstract

This cross-sectional study intends to evaluate the extent of middle ear infections and benign and neoplastic conditions involving temporal bone according to the compartment involved. For this purpose, a total of 65 patients with symptoms related to temporal bone pathology referred to the Department of Radiology and Imaging were included in this study after approval from the Institutional Review Board. Patients with electric devices at the skull base, such as cochlear implants, un-cooperative patients, patients with a history of trauma, those with congenital lesions, and patients who didn’t give consent were excluded from the study. Almost half of the patients were aged 31-40 years, and male to female ratio was 1.6:1. Regarding the signs and symptoms, all patients had deafness, followed by 73.8% otorrhea and 67.7% tinnitus. In the High-Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT) evaluation, 80.0% of the patients had inflammatory, followed by 16.9% benign and 3.1% malignant lesions. The validity test of the CT scan in the evaluation for benign lesions had a sensitivity of 81.8%, specificity of 96.3%, accuracy of 93.8%, positive predictive values of 81.8%, and negative predictive value of 96.3%. HRCT in the evaluation for malignant lesions had a sensitivity of 100.0%, specificity of 96.9%, accuracy of 96.9%, positive predictive values of 33.3%, and negative predictive values of 100.0%. HRCT in the evaluation for inflammatory lesions had a sensitivity of 94.3%, specificity of 83.3%, accuracy of 92.3%, positive predictive values of 96.2%, and negative predictive values of 76.9%.