title: Magnetic resonance imaging in patients with sudden deafness.
abstract: Although many theories on the etiology of sudden deafness have been proposed, the main pathological focus remains uncertain. In this study, MR examinations were performed on patients with unilateral sudden deafness to study the relationship between MRI findings and response to treatments, i.e. amidotrizoate, steroid, or both. In 7 out of 30 cases, the cochlea and/or the vestibule showed higher signal intensity on proton density and T2-weighted images on the diseased side (MRI positive cases). These findings suggest changes in the chemical composition of the perilymph and/or the endolymph, since proton density and T2-weighted images reflect water content. It appears that MRI positive sudden deafness is more difficult to cure even with the use of amidotrizoate or steroid than MRI negative sudden deafness. Amidotrizoate seems to be more effective in MRI negative sudden deafness. MRI would help us to further classify the etiology of sudden deafness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Miyazaki Medical College, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kano
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tono
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ushisako
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morimitsu
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kodama
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D003051:Cochlea / Q000473:pathology; D003287:Contrast Media; D003973:Diatrizoate / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005682:Gadolinium; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006309:Hearing / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D004369:Pentetic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D010498:Perilymph; D013256:Steroids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014717:Vertigo / Q000503:physiopathology; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D013256:Steroids; D003973:Diatrizoate; D004369:Pentetic Acid; D005682:Gadolinium; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA