Presentation
Vertigo and left sensorineural hearing loss
Patient Data
Sharply circumscribed filling defect occupying the entire basal turn of the left cochlea and vestibule is detected on FIESTA sequence and 3D reconstructions.
It is slightly hyperintense on T1 than the intralabyrinthine fluid and enhances vividly with Gadolinium.
Case Discussion
The high contrast between the fluid signal of the intralabyrinthine endolymph and perilymph and pathologic structures inside the inner ear on heavily T2-weighted 3D sequences makes it possible to distinguish with precision the location of intralabyrinthine schwannomas.
Intralabyrinthine schwannomas most often originate in the scala tympani of the cochlea and grow into the scala vestibuli and from the scala vestibuli to the saccule and vice versa (vestibulocochlear intralabyrinthine schwannomas) 1.