A venous cause for facial canal enlargement: Multidetector row CT findings and histopathologic correlation

Abstract

An enlarged facial nerve canal can be a seen in both pathologic and nonpathologic processes. The purposes of this report are the following: 1) to present a rare cause of bony facial nerve canal enlargement, due to an enlarged vein, with high-resolution MDCT and histopathologic correlation; and 2) to discuss the vascular anatomy that gives rise to this variant. Copyright © 2011 by the American Society of Neuroradiology.