To compare the application value of two imaging evaluation methods, the Nakashima method and the Bernaerts method, in endolymphatic hydrops（ELH） in Meniere's disease, and to explore the correlation with clinical characteristics.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Audiologists and ENT clinicians using MRI-based hydrops grading should be aware that Nakashima and Bernaerts methods may yield different classifications for the same patient; understanding the agreement and discordance between methods is important for consistent documentation and inter-clinician communication.
Standardising MRI hydrops grading is essential for comparing research findings, staging disease severity, and guiding treatment decisions in Meniere's disease management.
- 01Compared Nakashima and Bernaerts grading methods for MRI-based endolymphatic hydrops assessment.
- 02Study population limited to patients with unilateral (one-sided) Meniere's disease.
- 03Discordance between the two methods has practical implications for clinical staging and research.
- 04Neither method is universally adopted as a gold standard internationally.
- 05Results may guide clinicians toward the more reproducible or clinically meaningful method.
The Nakashima and Bernaerts imaging methods differ in their assessment of endolymphatic hydrops severity in Meniere's disease.
studyunclear- PMID
- 42686393
- DOI
- 10.13201/j.issn.2096-7993.2026.09.003.
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 3
- Population
- Patients with unilateral Meniere's disease undergoing MRI evaluation for endolymphatic hydrops
- Intervention
- Nakashima imaging grading method for endolymphatic hydrops
- Comparator
- Bernaerts imaging grading method for endolymphatic hydrops
Primary outcomes
Agreement and discordance between Nakashima and Bernaerts MRI grading of endolymphatic hydrops