Department of Biosciences, Anatomy Division, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil.
Department of Social Dentistry, Forensic Dentistry Division, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil.
Folia Morphol (Warsz). 2022;81(4):1042-1046. doi: 10.5603/FM.a2021.0086. Epub 2021 Sep 21.
The foramen tympanicum is located on the anteroinferior region of the external acoustic meatus and posteromedial to the temporomandibular joint in children between the 1st and the 5th year of life. It is considered an anatomical variation when it persists in adults. The aim of this study was to verify the prevalence as well as to characterise the foramen tympanicum in computed tomography (CT) scans of the population from southeastern part of Brazil.
A total of 78 CT scans of dry human skulls (20 female and 58 male) were used, which were selected randomly regarding the ages, ranged from 15 to 100 years. The foramen tympanicum was identified in the images of the axial plane and confirmed in the images of the coronal and sagittal planes. The largest diameter (in mm) was obtained. The descriptive statistics (in %), Fisher's test and χ2 test were performed to compare the prevalence of foramen tympanicum between sexes and sides. The probability value ≤ 0.05 was defined as a level of significance. Descriptive statistics were performed to verify the mean diameter of the foramen on the right and left sides of the skulls.
The prevalence of foramen tympanicum was higher in females (p = 0.0070), bilaterally, as the absolute values of females were lower in relation to males. Fisher's exact test showed that the prevalence of foramen tympanicum was significantly higher in females (45%) than in males (15.52%). On the right side, the mean axial diameter was 2.23 mm (range 0.93-3.75 mm). On the left side, the mean axial diameter was 2.22 mm (range 0.9-3.61 mm).
The knowledge of anatomical variations is extremely valuable for an accurate diagnosis, treatment plan and prognosis and a thorough preoperative assessment.
鼓室天盖位于外耳道的前下区域，在儿童 1 至 5 岁期间位于颞下颌关节的后内侧。在成人中持续存在时，被认为是一种解剖变异。本研究旨在验证巴西东南部人群 CT 扫描中耳鼓室天盖的发生率，并对其进行特征描述。
共使用了 78 张干燥人头 CT 扫描图像（20 名女性和 58 名男性），这些图像是根据年龄随机选择的，年龄范围在 15 至 100 岁之间。在轴位图像中识别鼓室天盖，并在冠状位和矢状位图像中确认。测量最大直径（mm）。采用描述性统计（%）、Fisher 检验和卡方检验比较性别和侧别之间鼓室天盖的发生率。将概率值≤0.05 定义为显著性水平。对颅骨两侧鼓室天盖的平均直径进行描述性统计分析。
女性（p=0.0070）双侧鼓室天盖的发生率较高，而女性的绝对数值低于男性。Fisher 确切检验显示，女性（45%）的鼓室天盖发生率明显高于男性（15.52%）。右侧轴向直径的平均值为 2.23mm（范围 0.93-3.75mm）。左侧轴向直径的平均值为 2.22mm（范围 0.9-3.61mm）。
了解解剖变异对准确诊断、治疗计划和预后以及彻底的术前评估非常重要。
