抄録
Vascular loops were found by air CT cisternography in 7 of 68 patients suspected of having acoustic neuromas.
The vascular loop was found to be projected into the internal auditory canal in only one of the 7 patients. This patient alone exhibited the symptoms and findings of Meniere's disease. In the other 6 patients, the vascular loop was found in the vicinity of the internal auditory meatus. In 2 of these patients, the chief complaint was unrelated to the vascular loop. One had a round window membrane rupture, which was confirmed surgically, while the other had Recklinghausen's disease without cochlear symptoms or vertigo. This patient was suspected of having a tumor at the fundus of the IAC. The other 4 patients had progressive sensorineural hearing loss, the onset of which had occurred as sudden deafness in 2 patients. Widening of the internal auditory canal was seen in 2 patients, while increased latency of wave V in the ABR was observed in 1 patient. These results indicated that symptoms are sometimes caused by neurovascular cross-compression between the vascular loop and the eighth cranial nerve. It will be necessary to further study their cause-and-effect relationship in the future by neurotological examinations using such techniques as air CT cisternography.
