Noninvasive MRI assessment of cerebrospinal fluid pressure in different phases of Ménière's disease: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to determine whether there are differences of cerebrospinal fluid pressure (CSF-P) on patients with Ménière's disease (MD) during different phases.

METHODS

Noninvasive CSF-P measurement was performed using MRI with a fat-suppressed fast recovery fast spin echo T2-weighted sequence, with the optic nerve subarachnoid space width (ONSASW) posterior to the globe serving as an indicator. Endolymphatic hydrops (EH) grades and hearing thresholds were analysed to investigate the potential correlations with CSF-P.

RESULTS

A total of 66 participants were included. At the location of 3 mm behind the globe, the ONSASW and CSF-P were significantly smaller in the acute phase of MD group compared to both the remission phase of MD group (p < 0.001, p = 0.005, respectively) and control group (p < 0.001, p = 0.043, respectively). No statistically significant differences were found between the remission phase of MD group and the control group (both p > 0.05). Statistically significant correlation between CSF-P and hearing threshold was exclusively observed during the acute phase, with a correlation coefficient of 0.479 (p = 0.024). No significant associations between CSF-P and EH grades in both the two MD groups (all p > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The study suggests that patients with MD experience a reduction in intracranial pressure during acute episodes, and these fluctuations may indicate hearing threshold variations in early-stage of patients.