[Surgical protection: anatomic and diagnostic contribution of a new CT techniques in preoperative study of the...

In the last ten years, CT study of the temporal bone has become, finer and has enriched itself with new projections. The objective of this paper fruit of collaboration between radiologist and otologist, is the search for CT projections, which evidentiate, with the same order and progression, the most important reference points that otologists find in temporal bone surgery. The study was conducted on fresh temporal bone extracted from cadavers which underwent tomography according to a projection very similar to a surgical plane defined precisely as "surgical". The Authors comment on what they consider the three most significant tomographies: those taken from the cortical mastoid at 15, 23 and 32 mm. The various anatomical structures and the relationships between them are identified with an operatory logic; this would afford in the surgical planning phase a better evaluation of the most appropriate approach, of the risks this approach would involve and of the length of the surgical procedure. The Authors also studied and developed an accessory that allows the application of surgical projection in living patients.