Cochlear Implantation after Bacterial Meningitis in Infants Younger Than 9 Months
Figure 1
MR images of the right (R) and left (L) inner ears of a patient (case 2) after pneumococcal meningitis. Depicted are the axial T1 weighted MR images with contrast enhancement (T1, top row) and the T2 weighted MR images (T2, bottom row). The patient, a boy aged 7 months, suffered from asymmetric hearing loss after pneumococcal meningitis. Auditory brain stem response (ABR) audiometry showed a deaf ear on the right side and a sloping hearing loss (60 dB at 3 KHz) on the left side. Red arrows show contrast enhancement in the cochlea on the T1 weighted images of both ears ((a) and (b)). The contrast enhancement involves the whole cochlea and vestibulum on the right side, but it is limited to the basal turn (BT) on the left. Yellow arrows show loss of fluid in the cochlea on the T2 weighted images on both sides ((c) and (d)). Whereas on the right side, the loss of fluid involves the complete cochlea and the basal turn is barely visible, the loss of fluid only partially involves the basal turn of the left cochlea. IAC: internal auditory canal.
