Computed tomography in skull base fractures in infants and young children

Abstract

Aim of the study is to show the possibilities of multiplanar reformation and 3D reconstructions of computed tomography in the diagnosis of skull base fractures in young children.
 Materials and methods. In one thousand three hundred thirty four children under 3 years of age with traumatic brain injury (TBI) CT was performed on a 128-slice Philips Ingenuity CT scanner; in 707 (53%) in the first 6 hours, in 254 (19%) — after 6 hours, but during the first 24 hours, in 205 (15%) children within 3 days and in 168 (13%) children later on 3 days after injury. Scanning of the area of interest (head + cervical spine) was made with the maximum possible reduction in parameters to minimize the radiation dose. Contrast was not used in children from 0 to 3 years of age with TBI. Post-processing included isotropic multi-planar reformatted (MPR) and 3D images.
 Results. Of the 1334 children examined, 730 were boys and 604 were girls. In 448 (33.58%) children, fractures of the skull bones were diagnosed, in 366 (81.7%) of them, fractures were combined with intracranial injuries. Fractures of the skull base were in 83 (18.52%) of 448 children. In 65% (n = 54) of cases, basal fractures were combined with fractures of the temporal bones, 31.5% 
 (n = 17) of these children had liquorrhea. Fractures of the anterior fossa (12% of the total number of fractures of the base of the skull) of the base of the skull or fronto-basal fractures were accompanied by additional fractures of the orbits and/or other bones of the facial skull in 56.6% of cases. Fractures of the middle cranial fossa were diagnosed in 54 (65%) children. Fractures of the posterior cranial fossa were found in 19 (23%) of 83 children. In addition to fractures of the bones of the base of the skull, 32 (38.6%) children were diagnosed with fractures of the bones of the vault and intracranial injuries.
 Conclusion. The use of multiplanar reformation and 3D reconstruction increased the sensitivity and specificity of diagnosing skull base fractures in children compared to conventional axial CT. The essential advantages of using 3D reconstruction are the availability of the technique, the absence of additional scanning time and radiation exposure.