Value of Computed Tomography in the Evaluation of Children With Cochlear Nerve Deficiency

Abstract

Using BCNC patency, as revealed by HRCT, as a means of identifying CND would miss all cases of absent CNs in the setting of a normal-size IAC. Thus, MRI should be the primary modality for imaging children with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. When MRI demonstrates a single nerve within a narrow IAC, the addition of HRCT can further identify more than half of these cases as involving absent CNs because of an absent BCNC. In a subset of patients, CN status remains indeterminate.