Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026
In Vivo Morphometric Analysis of Human Cranial Nerves Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Menière's Disease Ears and Normal Hearing Ears
Published on: February 21, 2018
Multifrequency admittancemetry in Ménière's Disease: a preliminary study for a new diagnostic test
Valérie Franco-Vidal1, Cécile Legarlantezec, Harold Blanchet
1Department of Skull Base Surgery, University Hospital of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
Objective:
To assess the qualitative and quantitative aspects of multifrequency tympanograms in patients with Ménière's disease.
Study Design:
Prospective study of adults.
Setting:
University medical center.
Patients:
Forty patients with Ménière's disease outside of episodes and 24 normal-hearing subjects with no otologic history.
Interventions:
Resonance frequency sweep and tympanograms of admittance, conductance, and susceptance at 2 kHz and at resonance frequency were performed in each ear.
Main Outcome Measures:
A qualitative assessment was performed to find reproducible and comparable tympanograms (Student's t test) as a prerequisite for quantitative assessment. Four measurement criteria were compared between the groups to establish a diagnostic test (chi Pearson test). A p value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results:
Resonance frequency was decreased in Ménière's disease. Only conductance tympanograms at 2 kHz had a constant pattern. Width of conductance tympanograms at 2 kHz was increased in symptomatic Ménière's disease compared with normal ears. Using conductance width at 2 kHz as a diagnostic test with a threshold of 235 daPa, we found a statistically significant difference between symptomatic ears of patients with Ménière's disease and ears of normal subjects (p < 10). More than 95% of normal subjects' ears had a negative test; 56.5% of affected ears of patients with Ménière's disease and 45.8% of nonaffected ears of patients with Ménière's disease had a positive test.
Conclusion:
Width of conductance at 2 kHz seems to be a sensitive, simple diagnostic test in Ménière's disease. It would also be of great interest in studying Ménière's disease bilaterality.
