Bilateral Meniere's disease assessed by an inner ear test battery

An inner ear test battery may suggest bilateral involvement and aid in 'grading' of potential disease in a patient with actively symptomatic Meniere's disease (MD).

This study applied an inner ear test battery in patients with bilateral MD to map the inner ear deficits in each ear.

From 2009 to 2012, 100 (20%) of 498 MD patients were diagnosed with bilateral involvement, which was defined as established MD in one ear, and the opposite ear had inner ear symptoms combined with documented hearing loss. Each patient underwent audiometry, and ocular vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (oVEMP), cervical VEMP (cVEMP), and caloric tests.

Grading of inner ear deficits was based on the number of abnormal results in the inner ear test battery. Of 100 patients with bilateral MD, 54% had the same grade and 46% had different grades in their 2 ears. On the other hand, based on four-tone average, 79% had the same Meniere stage and 21% had different stages in their two ears. The difference between ears with asymmetric grades (46%) and ears with asymmetric stages (21%) accounts for 25% of bilateral MD patients, which may be caused by the saccular hydrops in the opposite ear.