Abstract
The facial nerve is the most common paralyzed nerve of the human body. It is responsible for facial mimic, lacrimation, salivation, and taste with dysfunction of this nerve having a tremendous negative impact on patient’s lives. Its long and tortuous course within the densest bone of the human body and its fragile vascular supply make it particularly vulnerable to injury and difficult to rehabilitate functionally. As it is not amenable to direct clinical inspection, imaging plays a pivotal role in the diagnosis, management, and follow-up of patients with facial nerve dysfunction. The increasing resolution of imaging studies has lead to an increasing number of recognizable causes of facial nerve palsy improving the diagnostic yield and allowing for early treatment and functional rehabilitation. However, to keep high-resolution imaging within a reasonable time frame, it is advisable to tailor studies to the most likely location of a lesion along the course of the nerve. Clinically oriented topognostic testing is invaluable for this purpose. Appropriate imaging of the facial nerve requires detailed knowledge of its anatomy and physiology, mastering imaging technique, and recognition of the imaging features of the wide set of pathologic processes that may affect this nerve.
Keywords
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- FSE:
-
Fast spin echo
- DWI:
-
Diffusion weighted imaging
- GRE:
-
Gradient echo
- 3DFT-CISS:
-
Tridimensional Fourier transform constructive interference in the steady state
- DRIVE:
-
Driven equilibrium (optimized contrast using flip angle evolution)
- FIESTA:
-
Fast imaging employing steady-state acquisition
- GRE-SSFP:
-
Gradient echo steady-state free precessing
- True-FISP:
-
True fast imaging with steady-state precession
- bFFE:
-
Balanced fast-field echo
- SPACE:
-
Sampling perfection with application of optimized contrast
- 3D TOF MRA:
-
Tridimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography
- 3D-FISP:
-
Fast imaging with steady-state precession
- 3D-FLASH:
-
Fast low-angle shot
- 3D CE-FAST:
-
Contrast-enhanced Fourier-acquired steady state
- SPGR:
-
Spoiled gradient echo
- MPRAGE:
-
Magnetized prepared rapid gradient echo
- VIBE:
-
Volume interpolation breath hold enhancement
- SENSE:
-
Sensitivity encoding
- SWI:
-
Susceptibility weighted images
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Borges, A. (2014). Pathology of the Facial Nerve. In: Lemmerling, M., De Foer, B. (eds) Temporal Bone Imaging. Medical Radiology(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/174_2013_940
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