MRI anatomy of the acoustic-facial bundle in vivo.

In this study performed on 5 healthy volunteers the authors used oblique axial, coronal and sagittal MRI sections suitable to be anatomical configuration of the acoustic-facial bundle and were able to individualize the nerves forming this bundle throughout their course, with the sole exception of the intermediate nerve (VII2). They also analysed the relations of these nerves between themselves and with the other elements of the cerebellopontine angle. In addition, a proton-density sequence (SE, 6,000/30 ms) made it possible to differentiate in vivo between the grey matter and the white matter sufficiently to individualize the principal nuclei and tracts of the brain stem, and in particular the main vestibulo-cochlear central pathways.