Lesion-specific prognosis by magnetic resonance imaging in sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: High signals in the inner ear of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been reported, but no quantitative evaluation has yet been done. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate hearing outcomes and cochlear signal intensities on 3-T heavily T2-weighted three-dimensional fluid-attenuated inversion recovery magnetic resonance imaging (hT2W-3D-FLAIR) in patients with ISSNHL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-nine patients with ISSNHL were included. Patients underwent hT2W-3D-FLAIR with intravenous gadolinium injection and pure tone audiometry (PTA) at initial visits and 3 months later. Signal intensity ratios (SIRs) were measured in the basal or apical-middle turns of the affected cochlea. A statistical analysis of relationships between SIRs and the average hearing levels (HLs) at low (125, 250, and 500 Hz) and high (2, 4, and 8 kHz) tone frequencies was performed. RESULTS: Hearing improvements at high-tone frequencies in ears with HLs ≥60 dB were significantly worse in those with high SIRs at the basal turns on pre-contrast images. Similarly, hearing improvements at low-tone frequencies in ears with HLs ≥60 dB were significantly worse in those with high SIRs at the apical-middle turns on post-contrast images. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: High SIRs on hT2W-3D-FLAIR indicate cochlear disturbances with severe ISSNHL and could provide lesion-specific prognostic information.