Congenital malformations of the external and middle ear: Computerized tomographic classification

The authors used the high-resolution computerized tomoraphy (HRCT) for examining 52 congenital malformed ears in 45 children between 5 and 10 years of age. In six children the congenital malformations were bilateral. From the clinic aspect, the malformations were manifested as microtia, atresia of the external auditory channel and conductive hearing loss. In analyzing the anatomic details and pathological changes on the CT sections the authors found three groups of malformations. In the first group the auditory ossicles were almost always malformed: in the second group, beside the deformed auditory ossicles in almost all the cases there was apneumatized mastoid found while in the third group the auditory ossicles were malformed, the mastoids were apneumatized and in more than half of the cases the cavum timpani was malformed or filled with messenchyma. These characteristics are of great importance in the surgical reconstruction of the congenital ear's malformatons.