title: Diagnosis of vascular compression in facial spasm by stereoscopic short-range magnetic resonance angiography. Technical note.
abstract: The authors describe the use of stereoscopic short-range magnetic resonance (MR) angiography to diagnose whether and by what means the brainstem is compressed in a case of facial spasm. The MR images were obtained on a 1.5-tesla imaging system with three-dimensional time-of-flight pulse sequence (repetition time 39 msec, echo time 9 msec). Six-source MR images, in which the internal acoustic meatuses were described, were processed using a maximum-intensity projection technique to reconstruct the MR angiograms. The internal acoustic meatuses, the posterior fossa, and the nearby arteries are shown on a single MR angiogram. When two MR angiograms with projection angles 10 degrees apart are placed side by side and observed through polarized glasses, a stereoscopic view of the compressing artery can easily be seen.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Saiseikai Kurihashi Hospital, Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawasaki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kasuya
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kurita
mesh_terms: D001933:Brain Stem / Q000473:pathology*; D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic / Q000175:diagnosis; D005152:Facial Muscles; D005154:Facial Nerve; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D009408:Nerve Compression Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011859:Radiography; D013035:Spasm / Q000209:etiology*