Working Group "Petrous bone imaging"

Responsible: Priv.-Doz. Dr. med. A. Giesemann

Our working group is concerned with the optimization of imaging diagnostics of the temporal bone using CT and MRI and with the subtle morphological imaging of inner ear structures, particularly in congenital and acquired hearing disorders.

Technical developments in magnetic resonance imaging offer the possibility of using increasingly high-resolution sequences and increasing diagnostic reliability in the submillimeter range. State-of-the-art CT devices can provide cross-sectional images of the highest quality with low radiation exposure.

The temporal bone grows considerably during infancy and early childhood and can be precisely described by morphometry of pneumatization, sutural closure, formation of the "tympanic ring" during formation of the external auditory canal and nerve course. While the growth in size of the inner ear is completed at birth, the pars petrosa shows a growth in length in relation to the basal cochlear turn from 3:1 at birth to 7:1 in adulthood. The analysis of normal petrous bone growth should facilitate the understanding of complex malformations such as craniofacial dysmorphia and numerous syndromes.

Specialized morphological diagnosis goes hand in hand with progress in the identification of genes that cause hearing impairment. Due to the very successful treatment of congenitally deaf children with a cochlear implant, the diagnosis of malformations (both visible bone and nerve malformations) is of great importance in determining indications.

Further research focuses on rare inner ear diseases and skull base tumors, in particular paragangliomas.

Prizes and certificates

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"Awards and prizes"