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Assessing the abilities of senior otolaryngology residents and graduated otolaryngologists in recognizing skull base elements in axial CT scan: proposing a new method for differentiating superior orbital fissure and optic canal

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Abstract

Background and objectives

The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of recognizing some important elements of the skull base in axial CT-scan cuts, including the optic canal (OC), superior orbital fissure (SOF), vidian canal (VC), foramen rotundum (FR), jugular foramen (JF) and hypoglossal canal (HC).

Methods

In this study, 25 otolaryngology residents and 25 recently graduated otolaryngologists were evaluated in terms of their recognition of skull base elements, using 30 axial CT-scan cuts. Two months later, the exam related to skull base CT scans was taken in groups after a brief anatomy courses for otolaryngology residents.

Results

The percentage of correct answers from otolaryngology residents regarding OC, SOF, VC, FR, JF, and HC in the first exam were 74 ± 26, 47 ± 34, 65 ± 30, 41 ± 38, 58 ± 26, and 68 ± 32, respectively. The correct answer for each element was similar between groups, and the differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). p value for the differences observed regarding the percentage of correct answers for the second exam between trained otolaryngology residents and recent otolaryngology graduates regarding OC and JF was no significant (p > 0.05) but significant for the other elements with better result in trained otolaryngology residents and most for SOF (p > 0.0001).

Conclusion

This study showed that the ability of recognition for the mentioned elements in axial CT-scan cuts was low among otolaryngology residents and graduated otolaryngologists. The proposed novel method for distinguishing SOF from OC had a powerful and long-lasting effect on trainee.

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Acknowledgements

The present study was conducted in Amir Alam Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Those who participated in this study are kindly acknowledged. The manuscript has been read and approved by all authors.

Funding

This study received no funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Division of Neuroradiology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Amir Alam Hospital, Sa’adi Street, Tehran, Iran

    Maryam Mohammadzadeh

  2. Otorhinolaryngology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Amir Alam Hospital, Sa’adi Street, PO Box 14155-6446, Tehran, Iran

    Hakima Abdullah, Amineh Davoodian, Armin Akbari & Reza Erfanian

Authors
  1. Maryam Mohammadzadeh
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  2. Hakima Abdullah
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  3. Amineh Davoodian
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  4. Armin Akbari
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  5. Reza Erfanian
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Reza Erfanian.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in the study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Data and material of present work are available by Reza Erfanian by email (r_erfanian@sina.tums.ac.ir).

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Mohammadzadeh, M., Abdullah, H., Davoodian, A. et al. Assessing the abilities of senior otolaryngology residents and graduated otolaryngologists in recognizing skull base elements in axial CT scan: proposing a new method for differentiating superior orbital fissure and optic canal. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 278, 203–209 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-020-06108-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-020-06108-2

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