Cochlear–facial dehiscence (CFD) is a relatively new diagnosis which occurs when the
bony partition between the labyrinthine segment of the facial nerve and the cochlea
is dehiscent. This is considered one of several third window lesions which produce
varying degrees of auditory and vestibular symptoms. Imaging studies have identified
a consistently higher incidence of CFD when compared with the only histopathologic
study present in the literature. This research effort adds to the literature using
uniform computed tomography scan images across over 226 ears (114 patients) to identify
the radiographic incidence of CFD in normal patients without ear pathology or symptoms.
This study identified an incidence of 18.1% of the ears analyzed having dehiscence
without any correlation to age or gender. When dehiscence was not identified, the
mean thickness of bone between the cochlea and the facial nerve was 0.60 ± 0.24 mm.
Keywords
cochlear–facial dehiscence - CFD - third window lesions - cochlea - facial nerve -
temporal bone
