Association of the Prognosis and the Facial Nerve Enhancement in Gadolinium Enhanced MRI in Patients with Bell's Palsy / 대한이비인후과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the association of prognosis and facial nerve signal intensity in enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with Bell's palsy. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Patients who visited hospital for Bell's palsy from January of 2015 to June of 2016 were included in this study. A total of 30 patients were gathered and their facial palsy grades were evaluated with the House-Brackmann grade system on the initial visit and at six months after the first visit. In T1-weighted MRI, we measured the signal intensity of the region of interest (ROI), or the most-highly-enhanced portion of the affected facial nerve and the corresponding portion of the contralateral side. We calculated the ratio of ROI of the affected side to the contralateral side, and investigated the correlation between the ratio and the degree of improvement in facial palsy. RESULTS: The most frequent ROI of the affected facial nerve was labyrinthine segment. There was no significant correlation between the ROI ratio and initial H-B grade, or the degree of improvement in facial palsy. CONCLUSION: This study corresponds with the previous studies that indicated that the degree of the gadolinium enhancement of facial nerve in T1-weighted MRI is not related to the prognosis or the severity of the Bell's palsy.