RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Endolymphatic hydrops can be studied on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using images acquired 4 h after intravenous injection of Gd-chelate. Our aim was to compare high-resolution T2-weighted images of the saccule in normal subjects with histological sections from cadavers and to identify its changes in Meniere disease, compared to healthy volunteers. METHODS: Sixty-four healthy volunteers without any otologic disease and 64 patients who fulfilled all the criteria for unilateral Meniere disease underwent 3 T MRI using a T2-weighted steady state free precession (SSFP) sequence, without contrast material injection. Images of healthy volunteers were compared with histological sections of normal inner ears from premature foetuses and compared with volunteers. RESULTS: The normal saccule was easily visible on T2-weighted images in volunteers, with a normal maximal height of 1.6 mm (1.4 ± 0.1 mm, mean ± standard deviation) and a good correlation with reference histological sections, while in Meniere disease the saccule was dilated in 52/62 patients (84%), with a saccular height greater than 1.6 mm (1.69 ± 0.24 mm, p = 0.001), found in 45/52 patients (86%). An associated increased width (greater than 1.4 mm) was found in 23/52 patients (44%). A round shape or the non-visualisation of the saccule were also found in 2/52 (4%) and in 5/62 patients (8%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A T2-weighted sequence is an easy method to diagnose Meniere disease. Saccular abnormalities were found in 84% of the cases: elongation (height > 1.6 mm) in 86%, increased saccular width in 44%, or a missing saccule in 8%.
RESUMO
Some historical and bibliographical elements are given at the occasion of the 350th anniversary of the foundation of the chair of anatomy at Strasbourg. Strasbourg played an important role in the dissemination of the anatomical knowledge in the end of the 15th and the first half of the 16th century. In 1517, the first official human dissection organized in Strasbourg was performed. In 1652, a specific chair of anatomy founded, and the first holder was J. A. Sebiz (1614-1685). In 1670, an anatomical lecture theatre was created. Strasbourg became a French town in 1681 with no modification of the university and of the chair of anatomy. In 1872, after the annexation of Alsace, a new German university was founded ; normal anatomy and pathology were separated and each chair attached to a particular institute. In 1919, when the Faculty of Medicine was reorganized after Alsace was restored to France, specific chairs and institutes were founded for histology and embryology. Among the famous morphologists and scientists who worked in Strasbourg were in anatomy : H. Brunschwig (?-1534), W. H. Ryff (c. 1505-1548), J. Winter von Andernach (1497-1574), T. Lauth (1758-1826), F. D. Reisseissen (1773-1828), J. F. Lobstein (1777-1835), E. A. Lauth (1803-1837), E. Koeberlé (1828-1915), E. Beaunis (1830-1921), H. D. Bouchard (1833-1899), J. G. Joessel (1838-1892), W. Waldeyer (1836-1921), G. Schwalbe (1844-1916), W. Pfitzner (1853-1903), F. Keibel (1861-1929), A. Forster (1878-1957), and P. Bellocq (1888-1962) ; in pathology : F. D. von Rechlinghausen (1833-1910), H. Chiari (1851-1916), J. G. Mönckeberg (1877-1925), P. Masson (1880-1959), and L. Géry (1883-1957) ; in histology : P. Bouin (1870-1962), M. Aron (1892-1974), R. Courrier (1895-1986), and M. Klein (1905-1975) ; in embryology : P. Ancel (1873-1961), P. Vintemberger (1891-1983), J. Benoit (1896-1982), E. Wolff (1904-1996), and J. Clavert (1912-1994).
