[High resolution magnetic resonance tomography of the temporal bone]

Computed tomography (CT) has long been the method of choice for investigations of the temporal bone. Advances in high resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enabled MRI of the temporal bone. The purpose of this study was to assess detailed reconstruction of the anatomy of the temporal bone by MRI. Healthy volunteers were examined on a 1T MR whole body scanner (Impact, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany). A Helmholtz-configurated head coil was used. A T1-weighted 2D-FLASH sequence (TR = 400 ms, TE = 10 ms, 90 degrees flip angle, 2 mm slice thickness, 180* 256 matrix, 160 mm FOV) was performed pre- and postcontrast as well as a T2-weighted turbo spin echo sequence (TR = 6300 ms, TE = 112 ms, 3 mm slice thickness, 200 mm matrix, 200 mm FOV). A sagittal and an angulated paraxial projection, parallel to the nasopharyngeal edge of the clivus, were chosen. We suceeded in imaging the facial nerve along its entire course, including the geniculate ganglion and the greater superficial petrosal nerve, the cochlear nerve and the vestibular nerve (superior and inferior part). The facial nerve was visualised continuously from the cerebellopontine angle to the foramen stylomastoideum. The delineation of the different turns of the cochlea, the vestibule and the semicircular canals was excellent. High resolution MRI promises to be of great value in the diagnosis of the temporal bone.