Microstructural Alterations of the Auditory nerve and Central auditory pathways in unilateral sensorineural hearing deficiency – a DTI study

Introduction Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a MR-based neuroimaging method, enables to visualize neural pathways non-invasively and to characterize their diffusion properties. It provides information about the microstructure of white matter tracts and has had an enormous impact in the field of neuroradiology. In ENT, however, there have been only few studies involving DTI.

Methods 10 healthy, normal-hearing subjects and 10 patients with unilateral sensorineural hearing deficiency were scanned on a 3 Tesla MRI Scanner. We obtained diffusion weighted images with a voxel size of 1,5 x 1,5 x 1,5mm³ and diffusion encoding in 30 directions. After defining and applying regions of interest, fiber bundles of the auditory nerve, the arcuate fasciculus and the interhemispheric auditory pathway were extracted. Subsequently, diffusion parameters, namely fractional anisotropy (FA), Trace, axial and radial diffusivity, were calculated.

Results Besides the interhemispheric auditory pathway, which runs through the corpus callosum, the bilateral arcuate fasciculus and the auditory nerve were delineated as well as asymmetries in its microstructural features. In patients with unilateral sensorineural hearing deficiency, alterations of diffusion parameters were observed.

Conclusions Diffusion tensor imaging provides new insights in the microstructural examination of the auditory nerve as well as central auditory pathways and delineates alterations in unilateral sensorineural hearing deficiency.

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Publication History

Article published online:
13 May 2021