A megadolichobasilar anomaly and acute sensorineural hearing loss

The megadolichobasilar artery is a rare vascular anomaly that can cause a v ariety of clinical symptoms but is usually asymptomatic. Not much attention has been given as yet to a possible sensorineural hearing loss caused by a megadolichobasilar anomaly. Vascular compression of the vestibulocochlear nerve must be assumed to be the pathogenic factor. The megadolichobasilar a nomaly represents a rare entity in the differential diagnosis of sudden idi opathic sensorineural hearing loss. More common causes are acoustic neuroma s, monosymptomatic Meniere's disease and rupture of the round window membra ne. We present the case of a 71-year-old white male in whom magnetic resona nce angiography combined with contrast-enhanced computed tomography in thre e-dimensional reconstruction eventually led to the diagnosis of megadolicho basilar anomaly. The combination of both imaging techniques may be required for the effective diagnosis of similar vascular anomalies.