[Gadolinium and contrast medium MRI of the acoustic nerve in patients with meningeal neuritis and acoustico-facial syndrome].

Twelve cases of vestibular neuritis were investigated in gradient echo MRI with gadolinium. Only 3 severe cases associated with an acoustico facial syndrome (2 cases of herpes zoster oticus and one case after influenzae) demonstrated focal enhancement within the internal auditory canal on post contrast T1 weighted images. This enhancement involved at least 2 differents nerves. These 3 severe cases associating sensory neural hearing loss and facial palsy revealed a meningeal reaction after cerebrospinal fluid examination. The enhancement lasted a long time (up to 10 months) in one case of RAMSAY HUNT syndrome associated with a chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The MRI was able to confirm the anatomical reality of the vestibular neuritis and more precisely of the meningoneuritis and gave arguments for the theory of the polyneuropathy of Adour. Enhancement at MRI seems correlated with the severity of the affection (permanent vestibular areflexia in 3 cases and permanent hearing loss in 1 case).