Quantitative evaluation of endolymphatic hydrops with MRI through intravenous gadolinium administration and VEMP in unilateral definite Meniere’s disease

To help clinicians to further understand the significance of vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) examinations to diagnose MD and the quantitative relationship between VEMP and MRI in assessing the location and degree of endolymphatic hydrops (EH) in definite Meniere’s disease (MD) patients.

Fifty-six patients with unilateral definite MD participated in this study, which used MRIs through intravenous gadolinium administration (IV-Gd), audiometry, caloric tests and VEMP tests. The VEMP results of 26 healthy volunteers were used as a normal reference value.

The participants were found through MRI to have differing degrees of vestibular and cochlear EH. Quantitative comparison of MRI and VEMP results found that the response rates of oVEMP decreased with cochlear EH increasing; the asymmetry ratio (AR) of oVEMP can be used to find whether cochlear EH or not, and the P1–N1 amplitude was lower in the extreme cochlear EH group (P < 0.01). The AR of cVEMP was larger in severe vestibular EH group than that of the mild or no vestibular EH group (P < 0.01). The correlation between the degree of cochlear EH and the mean PTA threshold was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The duration of MD correlated positively with vestibular EH (P < 0.05). The abnormal rate of caloric tests was higher in severe vestibular EH group than that of the mild or no vestibular EH group (P < 0.05).

The advantages of MRIs by IV-Gd administration were obvious in assessing the location and degree of EH. oVEMP and PTA can be indirectly used to evaluate the extent of cochlear EH, cVEMP and caloric tests can be used to assess the extent of vestibular EH on the condition of absent MRIs.