"Ossifying" hemangiomas of the temporal bone: evaluation with CT

Abstract

Hemangiomas of the temporal bone that affect the facial nerve are more frequent than previously suspected. Six patients with slowly progressive or recurrent facial paralysis were evaluated with computed tomography. In each case, a lesion was demonstrated that enlarged the facial nerve canal and contained intratumoral spicules of bone. Typically the temporal bone was expanded by a lesion with an indistinct margin. Demonstration of the typical radiologic findings, especially the intratumoral bone spicules, makes hemangioma a much more likely diagnosis than schwannoma.