Comparison of inner ear deficits in Meniere's variants and their significance.

BACKGROUND

The declining order of abnormality rates in inner ear test battery of patients with Meniere's disease (MD) is consistent with the decreasing sequence of prevalence of hydrops formation in temporal bone donors of MD.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated inner ear deficits in MD patients with falls, without falls, and after sac operation to compare their inner ear deficits.

METHODS

Twenty MD patients with falls (Group A), 20 MD patients without falls (Group B), and 20 MD patients after sac operation (Group C) were enrolled. All patients underwent an inner ear test battery.

RESULTS

Group A (with falls) revealed a declining sequence of abnormality rates running from audiometry (92%), cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP) test (71%), caloric test (42%) to ocular VEMP (oVEMP) test (38%). In contrast, Group B (without falls) displayed a different declining sequence of abnormality rates running from audiometry, cVEMP test, and oVEMP test to caloric test. Similarly, Group C also displayed the same declining sequence of inner ear deficits to Group A, indicating that Groups A and C may share a similar mechanism.

CONCLUSIONS

Comparing the declining sequence of inner ear deficits in two inner ear disorders may help determine whether both disorders share a similar mechanism.