Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T07:30:34.089Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Relationship between surface area and volume of the mastoid air cell system in adult humans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 January 2011

J D Swarts ,
B M Cullen Doyle  and
W J Doyle
J D Swarts*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania, USA
B M Cullen Doyle
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania, USA
W J Doyle
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania, USA
*
Address for correspondence: Dr J Douglas Swarts, 3420 5th Ave, Oakland Medical Bldg, Room 118, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA Fax: +1 412 692 7555 E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction:

The geometry of the adult human mastoid air cell system has not previously been described over a large range of mastoid air cell volumes.

Methods:

Twenty subjects with a wide range of mastoid air cell pneumatised areas, as determined by X-ray, underwent computed tomography scanning of the middle ear. Mastoid air cell surface areas and volumes were then reconstructed from serial imaging sections, using Image J software.

Results:

Mastoid air cell volumes varied from 0.7 to 21.4 ml, and were linearly related to the pneumatised area. Right and left mastoid air cell volumes and surface areas were highly correlated. The mastoid air cell surface area was a linear function of volume.

Conclusion:

The relationship between mastoid air cell surface area and volume is similar over a wide range of volumes. Given that the rate of gas exchange across the mastoid air cell mucosa is related to the mastoid air cell surface area, that rate will thus also be a direct linear function of the mastoid air cell volume.

Keywords

MastoidAnatomyEar, MiddleDiagnostic ImagingPathology
Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 125 , Issue 6 , June 2011 , pp. 580 - 584
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1Doyle, WJ. The mastoid as a functional rate-limiter of middle ear pressure change. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2007;71:393–402CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Sade, J, Fuchs, C. A comparison of mastoid pneumatization in adults and children with cholesteatoma. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 1994;251:191–5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3Sade, J, Fuchs, C. Secretory otitis media in adults: I. The role of mastoid pneumatization as a risk factor. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1996;105:643–7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4Sade, J, Fuchs, C. Secretory otitis media in adults: II. The role of mastoid pneumatization as a prognostic factor. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1997;106:37–40CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Lesinskas, E. Factors affecting the results of nonsurgical treatment of secretory otitis media in adults. Auris Nasus Larynx 2003;30:7–14CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Valtonen, HJ, Dietz, A, Qvarnberg, YH, Nuutinen, J. Development of mastoid air cell system in children treated with ventilation tubes for early-onset otitis media: a prospective radiographic 5-year follow-up study. Laryngoscope 2005;115:268–73CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Park, MS, Yoo, SH, Lee, DH. Measurement of surface area in human mastoid air cell system. J Laryngol Otol 2000;114:93–6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Ranade, A, Lambertsen, CJ, Noordergraaf, A. Inert gas exchange in the middle ear. Acta Otolaryngol Suppl 1980;371:1–23CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9Colhoun, EN, O'Neill, G, Francis, KR, Hayward, C. A comparison between area and volume measurements of the mastoid air spaces in normal temporal bones. Clin Otolaryngol Allied Sci 1988;13:59–63CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Diamant, M. Mastoid pneumatization and normal curve distribution. Acta Otolaryngol 1965;60:167–74CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Aoki, K, Esaki, S, Honda, Y, Tos, M. Effect of middle ear infection on pneumatization and growth of the mastoid process. An experimental study in pigs. Acta Otolaryngol 1990;110:399–409Google ScholarPubMed
12Tos, M, Stangerup, SE. Mastoid pneumatization in secretory otitis. Further support for the environmental theory. Acta Otolaryngol 1984;98:110–18CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13Takahashi, H, Honjo, I, Naito, Y, Miura, M, Tanabe, M, Hasebe, S et al. Gas exchange function through the mastoid mucosa in ears after surgery. Laryngoscope 1997;107:1117–21CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Takahashi, H, Sugimaru, T, Honjo, I, Naito, Y, Fujita, A, Iwahashi, S et al. Assessment of the gas exchange function of the middle ear using nitrous oxide. A preliminary study. Acta Otolaryngol 1994;114:643–6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Tanabe, M, Takahashi, H, Honjo, I, Hasebe, S. Gas exchange function of the middle ear in patients with otitis media with effusion. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 1997;254:453–5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16Ikarashi, F, Tsuchiya, A. Middle ear gas exchange via the mucosa: estimation by hyperventilation. Acta Otolaryngol 2008;128:9–12CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17Cohen, D, Raveh, D, Peleg, U, Nazarian, Y, Perez, R. Ventilation and clearance of the middle ear. J Laryngol Otol 2009;123:1314–20CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed