To examine the associations among age, endolymphatic hydrops (EH), and hearing thresholds in patients with Meniere's disease (MD) confirmed by gadolinium-enhanced inner ear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to explore age-dependent effects of EH on hearing loss.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Audiologists managing Meniere's disease patients should be aware that age may modify the relationship between endolymphatic hydrops severity and hearing thresholds, though changes to diagnostic or management protocols await larger prospective studies.
Understanding how aging interacts with endolymphatic hydrops and hearing loss could refine patient stratification and counselling in Meniere's disease, where treatment response is notoriously variable.
- 01Gadolinium-enhanced inner ear MRI was used to objectively grade endolymphatic hydrops in Meniere's disease patients.
- 02Age appears to interact with hydrops severity in its effect on hearing thresholds.
- 03Findings could help explain the wide variability in hearing loss seen across Meniere's patients.
- 04Study design is observational; causal conclusions cannot be drawn.
- 05Implications for tailoring audiological monitoring by patient age group merit further investigation.
Age significantly interacts with endolymphatic hydrops severity to influence hearing thresholds in Meniere's disease.
studypartially supportedGadolinium-enhanced inner ear MRI can reliably confirm and grade endolymphatic hydrops in Meniere's disease.
studysupported- PMID
- 42782051
- DOI
- 10.1002/ohn.70459.
- Journal
- Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 3
- Population
- Patients with confirmed Meniere's disease evaluated by gadolinium-enhanced inner ear MRI
- Intervention
- Gadolinium-enhanced inner ear MRI assessment of endolymphatic hydrops severity
Primary outcomes
Association between endolymphatic hydrops grade and hearing thresholds; Interaction effect of age on hydrops-hearing threshold relationship