title: 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging obtained 4 hours after intravenous gadolinium injection in patients with sudden deafness.
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  3 Tesla (3T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) performed 4 h after intravenous gadolinium (Gd) injection provides sufficient anatomic resolution of the inner ear fluid spaces in sudden deafness. The signal intensity ratio (SIR) between the cochlea and cerebellum may be a good indicator of disruption of the blood-labyrinthine barrier.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We evaluated the inner ear 4 h after intravenous Gd injection to determine whether 3T MRI enables the acquisition of images of the affected inner ear in sudden deafness.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten patients underwent 3T MRI scanning 4 h after intravenous Gd injection. Three-dimensional fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (3D-FLAIR) MRI was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The SIR varied from 0.45 to 2.17 in 11 affected ears and from 0.43 to 1.48 in 9 unaffected ears. The difference of contrast (affected ear vs unaffected ear) could be detected in five of the nine patients with unilateral sudden deafness. The Gd distribution was recognized in the vestibule of 10 affected ears and in the cochlea of 5 affected ears, in which no significant hydrops was observed. In the remaining vestibules and cochleas of affected ears, the Gd enhancement was too faint to evaluate the endolymphatic hydrops.
authors: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Nagoya University, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan. mi-man@ra2.so-net.ne.jp
authors: Mitsuhiko
authors: M
authors: Tagaya
authors: Masaaki
authors: M
authors: Teranishi
authors: Shinji
authors: S
authors: Naganawa
authors: Tomoyuki
authors: T
authors: Iwata
authors: Tadao
authors: T
authors: Yoshida
authors: Hironao
authors: H
authors: Otake
authors: Seiichi
authors: S
authors: Nakata
authors: Michihiko
authors: M
authors: Sone
authors: Tsutomu
authors: T
authors: Nakashima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology; D003051:Cochlea / Q000473:pathology*; D003287:Contrast Media; D004710:Endolymph / Q000502:physiology; D018159:Endolymphatic Hydrops / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005682:Gadolinium; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D006571:Heterocyclic Compounds; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D010498:Perilymph / Q000502:physiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D006571:Heterocyclic Compounds; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; C062402:gadoteridol; D005682:Gadolinium