New approach to morphometric analysis of Huschke's foramen

Abstract

Background: The aim of the study is to analyse the demographic and anatomical details of the Huschke's foramen (HF) which have not been previously studied and to present a new clinical perspective.

Materials and methods: Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) images of 495 patients were retrospectively evaluated. Presence of a HF, its' size, relations to side, age and gender were noted for every patient. Size of the foramen was measured in the axial plane, as well as on the reconstructed coronal and sagittal planes.

Results: Of the 495 patients 99 (20%) had HF. There was no significant difference between females and males according to the presence of the HF and the side of the HF. When the dimension of the left- and the right-sided HFs were compared, there were no significant differences on none of the axes for the patients with unilateral or bilateral HF. There was no significant linear correlation between age and the dimension in the axial axis, the dimension in the sagittal axis and the dimension in the coronal axis CONCLUSIONS: The present work presenting morphologic and statistical variables of HF provides data for further studies which will indicate risk factors of herniation through HF. By the aid of MDCT, which is sensitive method for detection of the HF because of its thin sections, high spatial resolution, and multiplanar capabilities, lesions which were previously diagnosed as dehiscence were found to be defects.

Keywords: Huschke’s foramen; coronal diameter; herniation; multidetector computed tomography.