12-ft fall with loss of hearing. [Head and Neck] [CT]
12-ft fall with loss of hearing. [Head and Neck] [CT]
31 year old doing some doing roof work when he fell. Seen in the ED with right ear bleeding and right-sided decreased hearing.
The normal left side is depicted in the right images (standard convention). Coronal view [top right] shows the middle ear ossicles (arrow) in the middle ear cavity, and axial view [bottom right] shows the normal "ice cream cone" appearance (arrow).
By comparison, the right middle ear ossicles are missing in the middle ear cavity [top left] (arrow with ?) and found in the external auditory canal (arrow with !!) instead. Axial view [bottom left] shows a distinct lack of the ice cream cone appearance. The middle ear and external ear canals are also filled with fluid/blood. The tympanic membrane is clearly ruptured since the middle ear ossicles are outside.
So he will never hear again?
They'll probably have to reconstruct the middle ear ossicles with an implant.
*I'm not a surgeon however. I just look at images and go "ouch."
