Search

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cerebral atrophy has been suggested to be a reliable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) predictor of subsequent disability in all stages of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, no accepted methodology for routine clinical use exists to date. We sought an easy to apply and fast technique to evaluate cerebral ventricular volume in patients with MS with similar accuracy as a semiautomatic volumetric method. METHODS: The study included 104 patients, 61 diagnosed with MS and 43 with clinically isolated syndrome. In addition, 30 healthy controls were enrolled. Physical disability was assessed with the expanded disability status scale and cognitive disability with the Multiple Sclerosis Inventory Cognition (MUSIC) test. All subjects received standardized 3-dimensional (3D) MR-imaging on a 3 T scanner. Third ventricle volume (3VV) was obtained from 3D T1-weighted images using a semiautomated technique, and compared against planimetric assessment of the width of the third ventricle aligned (a3VW) and unaligned (u3VW) to anatomical landmarks. RESULTS: a3VW was obtained within seconds with excellent intra- and interrater agreement, and outperformed volumetric measurements regarding the differentiation of MS patients from healthy controls. a3VW had the strongest correlations with 3VV (r = .78, P < .001) and showed moderate inverse correlation with MUSIC cognition score (r = -.310, P < .005). CONCLUSIONS: a3VW is a time-effective and robust biomarker that has strong correlations with volumetric measurements and can be established as standard in the MRI quantification of central brain atrophy in patients with early MS.

High resolution CT (HR-CT) scanning of the temporal bone was performed in three patients with a fully expressed mandibulofacial dysostosis for preoperative assessment of temporal bone abnormalities. The external auditory canal was absent in five of six ears. Scans revealed a dysplastic middle ear cleft with dysplastic and partly dislocated ossicles. The ossicles were absent in two temporal bones. In no patient was the mastoid bone pneumatised. The inner ear was affected in only one patient in whom a shortening of the lateral semicircular canal could be found bilaterally. The role of HR-CT of the temporal bone as a preoperative diagnostic tool for the assessment of abnormalities of surgical import is discussed.

High-resolution CT of the petrous bone was carried out in 259 patients with clinically diagnosed abnormalities of the inner ear; in some the lesions were bilateral. In 62 patients (approximately 20%), the scans showed findings which related to the signs and symptoms. Patients with hearing loss and vestibular neuronitis showed no abnormalities. Amongst the remaining patients, the most common findings were acoustic neuromas (17 cases), cochlear otospongiosis (14 cases), malformations (13 cases) and tumours or cholesteatomas of the labyrinth (13 cases) as well as single rare isolated lesions.