[The arcuate eminence of the petrous portion of the temporal bone. Descriptive features]

The superior semicircular canal is an important landmark in the middle cranial fossa approach to the temporal bone and the internal acoustic meatus. This mark is frequently located by its topographic association to the arcuate eminence, a bony prominence located on the anterior surface of petrous portion of the temporal bone. In recent studies, otolaryngologists described that the arcuate eminence lies more posterior and laterally than the superior semicircular canal and stated that some eminences corresponded to sulci of the temporal lobe, of which most were traces of the occipitotemporal sulcus. Our work examines by dissection the relationship of the arcuate eminence to the superior semicircular canal, demonstrating a third origin of the arcuate eminence: well pneumatized temporal bones in the region of the epi-tympanic recess.