Topographic anatomy of the endolymphatic sac: a pilot cadaveric dissection study

The precise location of the endolymphatic sac (ES) may be difficult during surgical approaches. This morphometric study aimed to determine the exact location of ES in adult human cadavers for the management of pathologies such as Meniere's disease.

Twenty temporal bones of 10 adult cadavers (mean age: 70 ± 13.40 years, range: 45-92 years; sex: 4 males and 6 females) fixed with 10% formalin were bilaterally dissected to obtain numeric data about the location of ES.

Distances of ES to the posterior semicircular canal (PSC), Donaldson line (DL), sigmoid sinus (SS) and sinodural angle (SA) were found as 2.76 ± 1.18 (0.96-5.58) mm, 1.74 ± 1.13 (0.58-5.07) mm, 2.30 ± 1.09 (0.54-4.91) mm and 16.04 ± 3.15 (9.82-22.18) mm, respectively. In addition, the angle between the tangents passing through the cortical bone (CB) and SS was determined as 35.37°±11.32° (21.30°-60.58°). No statistical difference was found between right-left or male-female measurements (p > 0.05).

DL, SS, and PSC are essential anatomical landmarks for determining the location of ES. The spatial location of SS, including its depth to the cortical bone and the distance to anteriorly located anatomical structures of the mastoid cavity consisting of the facial nerve and PSC, is believed to be underlined for ES surgery. Our data may be used as a database to further define the relationship between ES and adjacent anatomical structures (SS, PSC, etc.) during the application of surgical approaches.