Static compliance of the eardrum in Meniere disease.

A recent study compared the acoustic impedance values in the affected and unaffected ears of patients with unilateral Meniere disease, and suggested that the higher impedance measured in the affected ears was due to increased intralabyrinthine pressure (endolymphatic hydrops). The present study does not support these findings. This conclusion is based on the static compliance of 17 patients with unilateral Meniere disease, measured during the glycerin test. Glycerin, an osmotic diuretic, produces transient improvements in pure-tone threshold and/or speech discrimination in the affected ear only. Orally administered glycerin is thought to cause these improvements by reducing endolymphatic hydrops. We were unable to find any change in static complicance after glycerin ingestion. Also no difference between the affected and unaffected ears, either before or after glycerin, was noted.