VASCULAR, INFLAMMATORY AND TUMOROUS LESIONS OF THE TEMPORAL BONE AND THE CEREBELLOPONTINE ANGLE - A MRI APPROACH

Advances in high resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allow the evaluation of the cerebellopontine angle and temporal bone. The purpose of our study was to demonstrate pathological and anatomical aberrations of cerebral arteries in relation to clinical symptoms. The study was carried out on a 1T MR whole body scanner (Impact, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany), using a head coil, a pre- and postcontrast (''Magnevist'', Schering, Berlin, Germany) T-1-weighted 2D-FLASH sequence and a T-2-weighted turbo-spin echo sequence. We examined 22 patients suffering from asymmetric hearing loss, pulse-synchronous tinnitus, hemifacial spasm or facial palsy. The problem of a clear differentiation of meningiomas and acoustic neurinomas by means of MRI is discussed. We identified aberrant AICAs at the cerebellopontine angle in close contact with the V., VII. and VIII. cranial nerve. Inflammatory lesions of the facial and vestibulocochlear nerve were visualised successfully. The potential of the pre- and postcontrast 2D-FLASH sequence for the detection of a wide range of different lesions in the cerebellopontine angle and the temporal bone in MRI of the head was demonstrated.