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Updated: Sep 24, 2025

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Published on: January 26, 2024
New bone formation over dehiscent semicircular canal with cartilage cap
Alok A Bhatt1,2,1,3, Prasanna Vibhute1,2,1,3, Vivek Gupta1,2,1,3
1Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
Purpose:
Cartilage cap resurfacing is a method to seal a superior semicircular canal dehiscence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the detection of new bone formation after surgical placement of a cartilage cap over a dehiscent semicircular canal.
Methods:
In this retrospective review, two neuroradiologists blinded to each other's interpretation reviewed the temporal bones of 20 patients, five of which had a pre-operative computed tomography (CT) exam which was interpreted as unilateral superior semicircular canal dehiscence and with new bone formation following repair on follow-up CT. There were also 15 control subjects. Each neuroradiologist was blinded to history, including post-operative changes, and asked to determine if there was a dehiscence or no dehiscence.
Results:
Out of the 15 controls, there was 100% inter-observer agreement. On the five post-operative patients, there was agreement in 4/5 that there was no dehiscence post-operatively and 1/5 agreement of dehiscence post-operatively, but ectopic bone adjacent to the dehiscence.
Conclusion:
Our results indicate that new bone formation can be seen at the site of cartilage cap placement over the dehiscence and be interpreted as bony closure of the dehiscence.
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