CT and MRI diagnosis of facial nerve neuroma / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the CT and MRI findings of facial neuroma to promote diagnostic accuracy. Methods Nine facial neuromas consisted of 8 schwannoma and 1 neurofibroma. High resolution CT were performed on 7 cases, routinal CT scan on 2 patients. Six cases were examined by MRI, in which 5 cases were used constrast media. Results Five tumors on right side and 4 on left were detected. The tumor affected the internal auditory canal segment of facial nerve in 1 case, labyrinth segment in 4, anterior genu in 6, tympanum segment in 7, mastoid segment in 6,horizontal segment in 5 and parotid segment in 3. CT demonstrated enlargement of the facial nerve canal, benign bone remodeling in the location of geniculate ganglion and stripe soft issue along the course of facial nerve. MRI found that involved facial nerve became thickened markedly as a stripe or soft mass by several segments, that were isointense to brain on T 1WI and isointense or hyperintense on T 2WI and enhanced obviously. Conclusion The segmental soft tissue mass along the facial nerve course is the characteristic of facial neuroma. Gadolinium enhanced MRI is an effective method for detecting the lesion.