The enlargement of geniculate fossa of facial nerve canal:a new CT finding of facial nerve canal fracture / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To discuss the value of enlargement of geniculate fossa of facial nerve canal in the diagnosis of facial nerve canal fracture.Methods Thirty patients with facial nerve canal fracture underwent axial and coronal CT scan.The correlation between the fracture and the enlargement of geniculate fossa of facial nerve canal was analyzed.The ability of showing the fracture and enlargement of geniculate fossa of facial nerve canal in axial and coronal imaging were compared.Results Fracture of geniculate fossa of facial nerve canal was found in the operation in 30 patients,while the fracture was detected in CT in 18 patients.Enlargement of geniculate ganglion of facial nerve was detected in 30 patients in the operation,while the enlargement of fossa was found in CT in 28 cases.Enlargement and fracture of geniculate fossa of facial nerve canal were both detected in CT images in 18 patients.Only the enlargement of geniculate fossa of facial nerve canal was shown in 12 patients in CT.Conclusion Enlargement of geniculate fossa of facial nerve canal was a useful finding in the diagnosis of fracture of geniculate fossa in patients with facial paralysis,even no fracture line was shown on CT images.