Role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Evaluation of Cerebellopontine Angle Schwannomas

Objectives: The study was designed to evaluate the role ofMagnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to localize andcharacterize the MR imaging features of cerebellopontineangle (CPA) schwannomas and to compare withsurgical/histopathological findings.Methodology: Thirty eight patients of clinically suspected &MRI diagnosis cases of CPA Schwannoms were selected inthis cross sectional study in different places of Bangladesh{Mymensingh Medical College Hospital Mymensigh, Sher-EBangla Medical College Hospital, Barisal, Popular DiagnosticCentre Gazipur & Lab Aid diagnostic Centre Barisal. Surgery ofall MR diagnosed cases were done in Dhaka Medial CollegeHospital & National Institute of Neuroscience Hospital, Dhaka}during the period from April 2008 to August 2019. All patientsincluded in the study were subjected to detailed clinical historyand physical examination following which MRI was carried outon 1.5 Tesla & 0.3 Tesla MR machine and the standardprotocol consisted of T1WI, T2WI, DWI and FLAIR images inaxial, sagittal and coronal planes.Results: MRI was erroneous in giving provisional diagnosis ofschwannoma in two cases, which on subsequent surgery andhistopathology was found to be a meningiomas. The sensitivityof MRI for correctly diagnosing vestibular schwannoma was100 % and specificity was 92.86 % with a positive predictivevalue of 94.12 % and accuracy of 96.67 %. MRI is consideredas an excellent noninvasive investigation for CP angleschwannoma’s. It can identify the site and extension of thelesions as well as the characteristic signal.