Endolymphatic hydrops in Meniere's disease detected by MRI after intratympanic administration of gadolinium: Comparison with sudden deafness

Abstract

Conclusion: The detection rate of endolymphatic hydrops was significantly higher in patients with Meniere's disease compared with those with sudden deafness, indicating that 3 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with intratympanic gadolinium injection was effective in diagnosing endolymphatic hydrops. Objectives: To compare the detection rate of endolymphatic hydrops between patients with Meniere's disease and sudden deafness as controls by 3 T MRI after intratympanic gadolinium injection with conventional pulse sequence such as two-dimensional fluid-attenuated inversion recovery. Methods: Ten patients with unilateral Meniere's disease and eight with sudden deafness underwent inner ear MRI 24 h after intratympanic gadolinium injection. Results: The endolymphatic space was detected as a low signal intensity area, while the perilymphatic space showed high intensity by gadolinium enhancement. Due to faint enhancement, images could not be evaluated in 1 of 10 patients with Meniere's disease. However, the other nine patients together with two of the eight with sudden deafness were diagnosed as having hydrops. The difference in detection rates between the two diseases was statistically significant. Two hydrops-positive cases with sudden deafness were considered to be of the secondary type of hydrops, because images were taken after partial recovery from hearing loss several months after the onset of the disease.

Keywords::

• Radiological diagnosis
• contrast enhancement
• secondary hydrops
• 3 T MRI

Acknowledgments

This study was partly supported by a research grant for intractable disease (vestibular disorder) from the Ministry for Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan. The authors thank Dr Kalubi Bukasa for the critical reading of the manuscript. Results of this article were presented at the 45th Annual Spring Meeting for American Neurotology Society in Las Vegas, 26 th Barany Society Meeting in Reykjavik, and 6 th International Symposium on Meniere's Disease and Inner Ear Disorders in Kyoto.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.