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Measurement of normal middle ear cavity volume in mesaticephalic dogs
Vincent E Defalque1, Diana S Rosenstein, Edmund J Rosser
1Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, D-208 Veterinary Medical Center, East Lansing, MI 48824-1314, USA. defalque@cvm.msu.edu
Abstract:
Water-filling and serial computed tomographic (CT) imaging techniques were used to measure normal middle ear cavity volume (MECV) in 18 dogs (10 live dogs, eight cadavers; 36 ears in total). The specific aims of this study were to (1) compare MECV measurements by water-filling and CT techniques and (2) define a model of MECV vs. body weight (BW) from CT values. There was a significant difference between the two techniques (P = 0.02). The volume obtained by water filling was consistently greater than that obtained by computed tomography. MECV (expressed in ml) increased with BW (expressed in kg) according to the following formula: MECV = -0.612 + 0.757 (In BW) (P<0.01, R2 = 0.74).

