HERPES-ZOSTER OTICUS - CORRELATIONS BETWEEN CLINICAL AND MRI FINDINGS

Many gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies focu sing on the anatomy and pathology of the 7th cranial nerve have alread y been published, However, only scattered cases of herpes tester oticu s (HZO) have been described and only the MRI appearance of the soft te mporal bone structures has been reported, Enhanced MRI was performed i n 4 patients with HZO observed at the Department of Otorhinolaryngolog y of the University of Pisa, A good correlation was found between the clinical data and MRI findings in both the acute and chronic stages of the disease, The :! cases with complete facial palsy presented promin ent and diffuse enhancement of the 7th and 8th cranial nerves on postc ontrast MRI, while the patient with grade III facial palsy showed more limited nerve enhancement, The patient with grade II facial palsy pre sented no MRI abnormalities. In our series, enhancement limited to the geniculate ganglion and to the labyrinthine segment of the facial ner ve indicates a good prognosis while a widespread enhancement correlate s with a poor prognosis, In conclusion, MRI with contrast may be usefu l during the acute stage of HZO because it can confirm the diagnosis a nd can provide prognostic information on the facial function.