Head and Neck Imaging

Mondini's malformation

(C. Mondini, 1729-1803, Italian physician), congenital malformation of the inner ear . The original description by Mondini refers to a vestibule larger than normal in size and a cochlea with only 1.5 turns. The term has become ambiguous as it has been used to describe a wide variety of cochlear anomalies. It should be reserved for a cochlea showing an incomplete partition: the absence of the interscalar septum results in confluence of the apical and middle turn (Fig. 1). Mondini's malformation is associated in 20% of cases with anomalies of the vestibule, semicircular canals and endolymphatic duct/sac.

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Fig. 01a

Axial CT image through right temporal bone. Absent interscalar septum, confluence of apical (upper arrowhead) and middle cochlear turn (oblique arrowhead) (courtesy by Marc Lemmerling, MD, PhD, Gent, Belgium).
Mondini's malformation, Fig. 01a