Visualization of endolymphatic hydrops in Ménière's disease with single-dose intravenous gadolinium-based contrast media using heavily T(2)-weighted 3D-FLAIR.

Heavily T(2)-weighted 3-dimensional fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (hT(2)W-3D-FLAIR) technique has been reported to be more sensitive than conventional 3D-FLAIR in detecting low concentrations of gadolinium-based contrast media (GBCM) in fluid. We applied hT(2)W-3D-FLAIR to visualize endolymphatic hydrops of Ménière's disease in 3 patients 4 hours after single-dose intravenous injection of GBCM and successfully visualized endolymphatic hydrops in either the cochlea or vestibule in all patients. This technique can be implemented in a clinical setting.