Ice cream cone sign (middle ear ossicles)
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Hacking C, Knipe H, Alrasheed W, Ice cream cone sign (middle ear ossicles). Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 20 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-76883
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rID:
76883
Article created:
Disclosures:
At the time the article was created Craig Hacking had no recorded disclosures.
View Craig Hacking's current disclosures
Last revised:
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Henry Knipe had the following disclosures:
- Micro-X Ltd, Shareholder (past)
These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.
View Henry Knipe's current disclosures
Revisions:
3 times, by
3 contributors -
see full revision history and disclosures
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The ice cream cone sign describes the normal appearance of the middle ear ossicles on axial CT scans.
Radiographic features
CT
The head of the malleus forms the ball of the ice cream, and the cone is formed by the body of the incus, with the tapering conical point formed by the short process pointing towards the aditus ad antrum 1,2.
Failure of this normal configuration suggests incudomalleolar disarticulation 2, although a preserved appearance does not exclude lateral dislocation of the incus 3.
See also
References
- 1. Trojanowska A, Drop A, Trojanowski P, Rosińska-Bogusiewicz K, Klatka J, Bobek-Billewicz B. External and Middle Ear Diseases: Radiological Diagnosis Based on Clinical Signs and Symptoms. Insights Imaging. 2012;3(1):33-48. doi:10.1007/s13244-011-0126-z - Pubmed
- 2. Maillot O, Attyé A, Boyer E et al. Post Traumatic Deafness: A Pictorial Review of CT and MRI Findings. Insights Imaging. 2016;7(3):341-50. doi:10.1007/s13244-016-0490-9
- 3. Lourenco M, Yeakley J, Ghorayeb B. The "Y" Sign of Lateral Dislocation of the Incus. Am J Otol. 1995;16(3):387-92. - Pubmed
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