Abstract
BackgroundTinnitus, sensory neural hearing loss (SNHL), and vertigo are common audio-vestibular symptoms. Many diseases are associated with these symptoms; however, the exact cause is not always identified. Some studies show that the etiology could be related to the presence of a vascular loop in contact with the 8th cranial nerve. Three-dimensional (3D) constructive interference in steady state (CISS) is a fully refocused gradient-echo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequence that has high sensitivity in evaluation of the cranial nerves. This high sensitivity is a result of its inherent ability to accentuate the T2 values between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and adjacent anatomical or pathological structures. We aimed to evaluate the association of audio-vestibular symptoms with the presence of vascular loops and vascular contact in cerebellopontine angle (CPA) and the internal auditory canal (IAC) using 3Tesla MRI. The study included 98 patients (196 ears); 51 females and 47 males with audio-vestibular dysfunction symptoms in isolation or combined; 40 patients with tinnitus, 50 with sensory neural hearing loss, and 32 with vertigo. The healthy control group with no symptoms in either ear, n = 60 (120 ears): 32 females and 28 males. The non-symptomatic ears in the patients were added to the healthy control group. All MRI examinations were performed by using a 3 T (Magnetom Verio 3 T; Siemens Medical Solutions, Erlangen, Germany).ResultsNo statistically significant association was detected between the presence of different grades of vascular loop or types of vascular contact and any of the studied audio-vestibular symptoms.ConclusionNo possible role of the presence of vascular loop/contact was identified in causing tinnitus, deafness, or vertigo as evaluated by 3D-CISS sequence. Therefore, presence of vascular loops in contact with the 8th cranial nerve is not certainly considered pathological but possibly to be a normal anatomical coincidental finding.
Highlights
Tinnitus, sensory neural hearing loss (SNHL), and vertigo are common audio-vestibular symptoms
It has been proposed that compression of the vestibulocochlear nerve (8th cranial nerve) by a vascular loop of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) could be the causative factor resulting in the otologic symptom
This pathology is described as vascular compression syndrome (VCS) which is caused by direct contact between a blood vessel and a cranial nerve [2,3,4]
Summary
Sensory neural hearing loss (SNHL), and vertigo are common audio-vestibular symptoms. The study included 98 patients (196 ears); 51 females and 47 males with audio-vestibular dysfunction symptoms in isolation or combined; 40 patients with tinnitus, 50 with sensory neural hearing loss, and 32 with vertigo. It has been proposed that compression of the vestibulocochlear nerve (8th cranial nerve) by a vascular loop of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) could be the causative factor resulting in the otologic symptom. This pathology is described as vascular compression syndrome (VCS) which is caused by direct contact between a blood vessel and a cranial nerve [2,3,4]. Impaired blood flow through the vascular loop as a direct result of neurovascular compression was suggested to result in reduced vascular perfusion of the cochlea and vestibule leading to dysfunction [8]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Egyptian Journal of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
