Prevalence of foramen of Huschke and petrotympanic fissure in the Brazilian population: CBCT study

Resumo

The aim of the present study was to analyze cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images to study the prevalence of foramen of Huschke (FH) and petrotympanic fissure (PF) in a sample of the Brazilian population. Material and Methods: A total of 146 CBCT exams were studied (292 ears), being 100 women (68.5%) and 46 men (31.5%). The images were evaluated by a maxillofacial radiology specialist, who noted the presence of FH and stated if the PF could be clearly observed. Frequency and descriptive analyses were performed on dedicated software (SPSS 10.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Results: FH was observed in 10 ears (6.8%) of nine patients (13.14%), eight patients (11.68%) presenting it unilaterally, and one patient (1.46%) bilaterally. PF was observed in 113 patients (77.39%), 35 (23.97%) of those presenting it unilaterally and 78 (53.42%) bilaterally, being observed in 192 ears (65.75%). Conclusion: FH is an anatomical anomaly with prevalence of 6.8% of the studied ears, while PF is an anatomical feature that was observed on 65.75% of the ears.