HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text All Versions of this Article: 2302021353v1 230/2/504    most recent Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kress, B. Articles by Sartor, K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kress, B. Articles by Sartor, K.

Bell Palsy: Quantitative Analysis of MR Imaging Data as a Method of Predicting Outcome¹

¹ From the Department of Neurology, Division of Neuroradiology, University of Heidelberg Medical Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany (B.K., C.S., K.S.); and Departments of Radiology (B.K., W.B.) and Neurology (F.G.), Armed Forces Hospital, Ulm, Germany. Received October 22, 2002; revision requested January 6, 2003; final revision received May 23; accepted June 16. Address correspondence to B.K. (e-mail: bodo_kress@med.uni-heidelberg.de).

PURPOSE: To assess the prognostic value of quantitative analyses of region-of-interest (ROI) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging data in patients with acute facial nerve palsy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a single-blinded study, MR images were obtained in 39 patients (32 men and seven women; age range, 18–75 years; average age, 37.9 years) with acute facial nerve palsy. MR images were obtained before the 6th day of illness, on the first day of standard inpatient treatment with high-dose steroids. Signal intensity (SI) was measured at ROIs in each of five segments (internal auditory canal [IAC]; geniculate ganglion; and labyrinth, tympanic, and mastoid segments) of the intratemporal portion of the facial nerve and quantitatively analyzed. The SI measurements in the five segments were summed and divided by 100 to provide a basis for establishing an MR imaging index. SI increases and MR imaging indexes were compared with available clinical findings and electrophysiologic data.

RESULTS: Data for all 39 patients could be analyzed. The MR imaging index was significantly higher in patients with poor outcomes than in patients with favorable outcomes (specificity, 97%; sensitivity, 75%; P < .01). The SI increases in the IAC were significantly different between patients who progressed to full recovery (mean increase, 45.7%) and patients who developed chronic facial paralysis (mean increase, 156.5%) (sensitivity, 100%; specificity, 97%; P < .001). The results of differentiating between patients with good and those with poor outcomes on the basis of SI measurements in the IAC were found to be in complete agreement with electrophysiologic data.

CONCLUSION: Quantitative analysis of ROI MR imaging data is a valid method of predicting the outcome of acute facial nerve palsy during the first days after onset of symptoms and thus at a time when it is not yet possible to obtain valuable prognostic information by using electrophysiologic methods.

© RSNA, 2003

Index terms: Nerves, diseases, 2123.299, 218.299 • Nerves, facial, 2123.299 • Nerves, MR, 2123.12143, 218.12141

This article has been cited by other articles:

				I.-F. Talos, K. H. Zou, L. Ohno-Machado, J. G. Bhagwat, R. Kikinis, P. M. Black, and F. A. Jolesz Supratentorial Low-Grade Glioma Resectability: Statistical Predictive Analysis Based on Anatomic MR Features and Tumor Characteristics. Radiology, May 1, 2006; 239(2): 506 - 513. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]