Signal intensity assessment of the facial nerve
Multi-planner reconstruction (MPR) and maximum intensity projection
(MIP) images were obtained using RadiAnt DICOM Viewer (Medixant, Poznan,
Poland). For five affected ears, anatomical segments of the facial nerve
were identified on MPR images, and the signal intensity of each segment
was assigned a value by the first author as follows: 0, no signal; 1,
faint visualisation; 2, signal equivalent to normal cerebellum; 3,
signal equivalent to enhancing dural
sinus.6Furthermore, we compared the signal intensity
of the mastoid segment between before and after remission induction in
three affected ears. Four otolaryngologists, two rheumatologists, and
one radiologist were blinded to the clinical information and scored each
individual case independently in a single session. For comparison, Case
4 was excluded due to being under treatment.