title: [Aberrant internal carotid artery as a cause of pulsatile tinnitus: a difficult diagnosis in MRI?].
abstract: We present the case of a 43-year-old patient with sensorineural hearing loss and the finding of an aberrant internal carotid artery in the left tympanic cavity that was causing pulsatile tinnitus. The aberrant vessel was initially invisible on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and was confirmed by high-resolution computed tomography and MR angiography (MRA). Recognition of an aberrant course of an internal carotid artery often requires a combination of MRI and MRA to establish the diagnosis and rule out other differential diagnoses.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Ohren-, Nasen-, Hals- und Gesichtschirurgie, Universitätsspital Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz. michael@soyka.ch
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Soyka
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schuknecht
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Huber
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D002343:Carotid Artery, Internal / Q000002:abnormalities*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004432:Ear, Middle / Q000002:abnormalities; D006316:Hearing Loss, High-Frequency / Q000175:diagnosis; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D038781:Otoscopy; D011674:Pulse; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000209:etiology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
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