Imaging of the saccule for the diagnosis of endolymphatic hydrops in Meniere disease, using a three-dimensional T2-weighted steady state free precession sequence: accurate, fast, and without contrast material intravenous injection.

Background: Endolymphatic hydrops can be studied on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using images acquired 4 h after intravenous injection of Gd-chelate. Our aim was to compare high-resolution T2-weighted images of the saccule in normal subjects with histological sections from cadavers and to identify its changes in Meniere disease, compared to healthy volunteers.

Methods: Sixty-four healthy volunteers without any otologic disease and 64 patients who fulfilled all the criteria for unilateral Meniere disease underwent 3 T MRI using a T2-weighted steady state free precession (SSFP) sequence, without contrast material injection.

[About the 350th anniversary of the foundation of the chair of anatomy of the faculty of medicine at Strasbourg (1652-2002)].

Some historical and bibliographical elements are given at the occasion of the 350th anniversary of the foundation of the chair of anatomy at Strasbourg. Strasbourg played an important role in the dissemination of the anatomical knowledge in the end of the 15th and the first half of the 16th century. In 1517, the first official human dissection organized in Strasbourg was performed.