A narrow internal auditory canal with duplication in a patient with congenital sensorineural hearing loss

Abstract

A narrow internal auditory canal (IAC) with duplication is a rare anomaly of the temporal bone. It is associated with congenital sensorineural hearing loss. Aplasia or hypoplasia of the vestibulocochlear nerve may cause the hearing loss. We present an unusual case of an isolated narrow IAC with duplication that was detected by a CT scan. In this case, the IAC was divided by a bony septum into an empty stenotic inferoposterior portion and a large anterosuperior portion containing the facial nerve that was clearly delineated on MRI.