Magnetic resonance imaging in sudden deafness.

UNLABELLED The etiology of sudden deafness can remain undetermined despite extensive investigation. This study addresses the value of magnetic resonance imaging in the analysis of sudden deafness patients. STUDY DESIGN Transversal cohort. MATERIAL AND METHOD In a prospective study, 49 patients attended at otolaryngology emergency room of Federal University of Sao Paulo--Escola Paulista de Medicina, from April 2001 to May 2003, were submitted to magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS Magnetic Resonance abnormalities were seen in 23 (46.9%) patients and revealed two tumors suggestive of meningioma, three vestibular schwannomas, thirteen microangiopathic changes of the brain and five (21.7%) pathological conditions of the labyrinth. CONCLUSION Sudden deafness should be approached as a symptom common to different diseases. The presence of cerebellopontine angle tumors in 10.2% of our cases, among other treatable causes, justifies the recommendation of gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance use, not only to study the auditory peripheral pathway, but to study the whole auditory pathway including the brain.