Diagnosis of Menière’s disease according to the criteria of 2015: Characteristics and challenges in 96 patients

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Friedrich Ihler ◽  
Ivelina Stoycheva ◽  
Jennifer L. Spiegel ◽  
Daniel Polterauer ◽  
Joachim Müller ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of Menière’s disease (MD) is made according to diagnostic criteria, the last revision of which was in 2015. For diagnosis, symptoms are weighted with audiometric findings and this can be challenging in individual patients. OBJECTIVE: To analyze patient’s characteristics and symptoms in a real-life cohort of 96 patients with diagnosed MD regarding sociodemographic parameters, clinical specifics, and audiometry. METHODS: Prospective clinical patient registry containing demographic and socioeconomic parameters, symptoms, as well as pure-tone audiometry data. RESULTS: 31 patients with definite MD, and 36 with probable MD were identified. 29 patients showed typical clinical signs of MD, but did not meet the full diagnostic criteria, and were considered separately. Mean duration of symptoms prior to presentation was 3.9±4.6 years. Significant differences between categories were found regarding aural fullness, tinnitus, and fluctuating hearing. If multiple audiograms were available, 28.6 %(6/21) documented fluctuating hearing. CONCLUSIONS: Current diagnostic criteria probably do not represent patients with monosymptomatic presentation or an early stage very well. Long-term follow-up with repeated audiometry is advisable.

1984 ◽  
Vol 93 (4_suppl) ◽  
pp. 31-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael M. Paparella

From review of recent findings, the pathology of Meniere's disease is described and correlated with clinical signs. Since Meniere's disease can be seen only in humans, assessing its natural history is important. A recent survey of 500 patients demonstrated the three major symptoms to be vestibular, auditory, and aural pressure. Meniere's disease (idiopathic) is distinguished from Meniere's syndrome (symptoms with likely cause), which accounted for approximately one fourth of the patients. Atypical forms include vestibular and cochlear Meniere's disease. A recent review of our temporal bone collection and detailed study of the pathological conditions of 134 temporal bones described in the literature revealed characteristic pathological findings. Patients with clear-cut histories of Meniere's disease may demonstrate little or no endolymphatic hydrops at death. Nevertheless, hydrops of the pars inferior remains the most significant pathological correlate of Meniere's disease. On the basis of these findings, the pathogenesis of the disease (malabsorption of endolymph) and the pathophysiology of the symptoms (physical and chemical) are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yafeng Guan ◽  
Divya A. Chari ◽  
Yu-Hsi Liu ◽  
Steven D. Rauch

Objective: To study the success of intratympanic gentamicin (ITG) treatment in reducing vertigo attacks in Meniere's disease (MD) and the value of the Halmagyi head thrust test (HTT) in predicting treatment durability.Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.Setting: Tertiary care vestibular clinic.Patients: Unilateral MD patients treated with ITG from 2006–2019 with ≥6 months follow-up.Main Outcome Measures: Demographics, audiometric data, subjective symptomatology, and HTT results were collected. Treatment success was defined as sufficient symptom relief. Treatment failure indicated vertigo control of less than 6 months duration. Treatment relapse indicated vertigo recurrence after 6 months.Results: Of 255 patients, treatment success, failure, and relapse occurred in 226 (88.6%), 29 (11.4%), and 121 (47.1%) patients, respectively. 48 (18.8%) patients who failed to respond or relapsed underwent labyrinthectomy. Mean follow-up time was 3.7 yrs (range 0.5–12.8). After ITG treatment, 25% patients reported worse hearing; mean pure tone average (PTA) increased by 18.6 ± 11.3 dB and mean word recognition score (WRS) decreased by 33 ± 21%. Of the 148 patients with negative pre-treatment HHT, 103 (69.6%) converted to positive after ITG treatment. Mean time-to-relapse in the converted and non-converted HTT cohorts was significantly different (49.7 vs. 27.0 months, p = 0.009) even after adjusting for gender, age, laterality, duration of symptoms, and number of ITG treatments. There were no significant differences between the two groups in hearing outcomes or subjective symptoms (e.g. lingering disequilibrium).Conclusions: ITG treatment effectively reduces the number of vertigo attacks in MD. HTT is valuable in predicting durability of treatment benefit.


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