[Enlarged "empty" internal auditory canal -- its role in differential diagnosis of the acoustic neuroma (author's transl)].

Plain roentgenography of the petrous bone showed in 24 of our otoneurological patients an enlargement of the internal auditory canal. The vertical diameter was more than 8 mm. Otoneurological findings in these patients were mostly the same as found in acoustic neuromas. Exclusion of the presence of a tumor in the internal auditory canal is possible by meatography only. The enlarged "empty" internal auditory canal seems to be a departure from the usual. The incidence of this radiological finding in our patients was 1:83.