Abstract
ObjectiveTo study the anatomical correlation between the arcuate eminence and the superior semicircular canal.Material and methodsA study of the height of the arcuate eminence was carried out in 295 temporal bones. In addition, 30 temporals with different heights of the arcuate eminence (10 flat, 10 prominent and 10 very prominent) were randomly selected and radiological tests were performed by computed tomography (Pöschl projection) and subsequent dissection by milling until the apex of the superior semicircular canal was found, establishing, with both methods, the anatomical relationship with the arcuate eminence.ResultsThe arcuate eminence was classified as: smooth, when there was no relief (1.7%); flat, measured less than 1 mm (20.3%), prominent, measured between 1 and 2 mm, in (62%), and very prominent, measured above 2 mm (12.6%). The tomographic study (CT) and its subsequent dissection by bone milling showed a direct relationship between the arcuate eminence and the semicircular canal only when it was flat, while the rest of the types corresponded to the presence of pneumatized peri-labyrinthine cells and/or cancellous bone without a direct anatomical relationship with the apex of the superior semicircular canal.ConclusionThe correlation between the arcuate eminence and the superior semicircular canal is direct only when it is flat (1 mm), being related to peri-labyrinthine cells and/or cancellous bone when the arcuate eminence is prominent or very prominent.
Highlights
In the more classical treatises on human anatomy, the arcuate eminence is defined as the elevation produced by the prominence of the superior semi-circular canal on the anterior surface of the temporal bone, at the junction of the posterior third with the anterior two thirds, whereby it is related to the middle cranial fossa, and separated from it by the meninges [1, 2]
One of them suggests that it originates from the protrusion of the superior semi-circular canal [8], while others do not find a direct coincidence between the two structures, suggesting that the arcuate eminence may be due to pneumatization processes, or to the grooves that the temporal lobe of the brain leaves on the crest [9, 10]
With radiological tests and subsequent dissection, we found that, in the prominent or very prominent Arcuate Eminence (1–2 mm and > 2 mm, respectively), corresponding to 74.6% of the eminences studied, the relief was due to pneumatization of this region, and in the flat ones (< 1 mm), it was due to protrusion of the semi-circular canal
Summary
In the more classical treatises on human anatomy, the arcuate eminence is defined as the elevation produced by the prominence of the superior semi-circular canal on the anterior surface of the temporal bone, at the junction of the posterior third with the anterior two thirds, whereby it is related to the middle cranial fossa, and separated from it by the meninges [1, 2]. The aim is to study the anatomical morphology of the arcuate eminence and its relationship with the superior semicircular canal by radiological study and subsequent anatomical dissection, after milling, and to assess the correlation between the two structures
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