Clinical manifestations of Hydropic Ear Disease

Introduction Menière's Disease is defined as the syndrome of endolmyphatic hydrops. Following the avent of clinical MR imaging of endolymphatic hydrops, the concept of Hydropic Ear Disease has been developed in the last few years. This concept unites all clinical variants of Menière's disease within a single systematic framework, for the first time. Thus it enables the clinical characterization of endolymphatic hydrops.

Methods The clinical characteristics of 249 patients with morphologically confirmed endolymphatic hydrops were prospectively analyzed using a standardized neurotologic interview.

Results During a hydropic vertigo attack, patients report nausea, emesis, sweating, urge to urinate, urge to defacate, headache, photophobia, phonophobia, visual disturbance and even loss of consciousness. A third of the patients does not have simultaneous ear symptoms during the attack. The vertigo attack lasts 20 minutes or less in more than a quarter of the patients. Migraine and autoimmune disorders are not associated with Hydropic Ear Disease.

Discussion This study defines for the first time the clinical features of Hydropic Ear Disease. The results show that the current clinical symptom-based diagnostic criteria are insufficient and need to be revised.

Poster-PDF A-1453.PDF

Publication History

Article published online:
10 June 2020