Morphometric evaluation of mastoid process on cone beam computed tomography images

Mastoid process is one of the structures that can be examined for similar characteristics of humans in terms of age, nutrition and origin. The most important effect in attracting attention is the compact structure of this part of the temporal bone. It is also the attachment point of important muscle groups. It has clinical importance in middle ear surgeries and infections of this region. Radiological measurements are practical and reliable. These advantages have made it a method used in morphometric and morphological research. The aim of this study is to compare mastoid process's morphology and morphometry in individuals aged 18-95 according to age, gender and sides in imagings performed on Cone Beam Computed Tomography. In the study, images of 247 individuals on three different sections, coronal, transverse and sagittal, were examined. In these sections, three landmarks are determined as mastoidale (Ma), porion (Po) and tegmen mastoidium (TM). Using these landmarks, 3 parameters in the coronal section, 5 parameters in the transverse section and 7 different parameters in the sagittal section are examined bilaterally. According to the results of the comparison of the measurements taken from the coronal, transverse and sagittal sections according to gender, there is a statistically significant difference between genders in all parameters except the AIA parameter. Except for the AIA parameter, all lengths and angles are higher in males than females. According to the results of the age-related correlation analysis, a very weak negative correlation with age is found in the IMMAE parameter on the coronal section, and a very weak positive relationship with age in the BG2 parameter on the transverse section. According to the logistic regression and discriminant analysis results, the best percentage is determined as 74.9% in the right MU parameter in both analyses. According to ROC curve analysis, the area under the ROC curve is statistically significant in all parameters except the AIA parameter. In this study, mastoid process's is determined that although there are significant differences between the genders, it is not related to age. It is thought that the data obtained in this study can help clinicians in the surgical procedures of the region.