title: Labyrinthine artery detection in patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss by 7-T MRI.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the detection rates of the labyrinthine artery in subjects with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL) and in normal-hearing controls using 7-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tertiary referral center.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 18 patients (9 males, 9 females) with ISSHL and 32 volunteers (21 males, 11 females) with normal hearing, 7-T MRI (Discovery MR950; GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) was performed with the 3-dimensional time-of-flight spoiled gradient echo (3D TOF SPGR) sequence to compare the detection rates of the labyrinthine artery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The MRI scans were performed from 3 to 54 days after onset. Of the 18 patients with ISSHL, 8 showed complete recovery, 9 showed partial recovery, and the rest showed no recovery. The labyrinthine artery was depicted in 36 of 36 ears (100%) in the ISSHL group and 63 of 64 (98.4%) ears in the normal-hearing group, with no significant difference in detection rates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To our knowledge, the present study is the first to report depiction of the labyrinthine artery by 7-T MRI. These preliminary results indicate occlusion of the labyrinthine artery would be rare in the pathogenesis of ISSHL, and they also demonstrate that the labyrinthine artery could be detected by ultra-high-field MRI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Iwate Medical University, Morioka, Iwate, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Kazuaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawagishi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D001158:Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000098:blood supply*
keywords: 7-T MRI; idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss; labyrinthine artery