Ramsay Hunt Syndrome
- Herpes zoster oticus infection
- Clinically: facial palsy, sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo, nystagmus, painful vesicles in external auditory canal, fever and general malaise
- Significant contrast enhancement of intrameatal 7th and 8th cranial nerves (may be mass-like) and portions of labyrinth, enhancement of pons corresponding cranial nerve nuclei due to antegrade extension of infection
- Rare: cerebral angiitis presumably due to extension of inflammatory process to blood vessel walls
Suggested Reading
Anderson RE, Laskoff JM. Ramsay Hunt syndrome mimicking intracanalicular acoustic neuroma on contrast-enhanced MR. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 1990;11:409.
Sartoretti-Schefer S, Kollias S, Valavanis A. Ramsay Hunt syndrome associated with brain stem enhancement. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 1999;20:278-80.