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Accelerated Ossification of the Cochlear Aqueduct, TB‐Meningitis, and Hearing Loss: Are they related?
Author(s) -
Balboni Armand L,
Reidenberg Joy S,
Bergemann Andrew D,
Laitman Jeffrey T
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a135-c
Subject(s) - ossification , anatomy , posterior cranial fossa , medicine , crania , meningitis , hearing loss , arachnoiditis , surgery , audiology
Our prior work suggested that petro‐occipital fissure (POF) ossification may be altered in clinicopathologies of the cranial base such as hearing loss (Balboni et al., 2005, 2006; Balboni, 2006). Here we report on osseous changes in the cochlear aqueduct (CA), which lies at the posterior margin of the POF and provides a conduit between the inner ear and posterior cranial fossa. We examined and staged CA ossification patterns in normal adult crania (n=74) and tuberculosis meningitis (TBM) crania (n=11) from the Grant Collection at the University of Toronto. We demonstrate a statistically significant change (p < .05) in age‐related CA ossification between the TBM crania and normal crania. The dura and fibrous connective tissue of the CA undergoes a markedly accelerated ossification pattern in young adults with TBM compared to controls. This study suggests that the rate of ossification of the CA is accelerated with exposure to TBM. The well‐characterized biological mechanism of TBM, with its induction of dural inflammation along the posterior cranial fossa, suggests that the magnitude of localized inflammatory processes may underlie the rate CA ossification. This study ties TBM to measurable changes in CA morphology and points to a relationship between dural inflammation and CA ossification, and may also be implicated in the development of post‐meningitis hearing loss.