The Journal of International
Advanced Otology
Original Article

Menière’s Disease and Caloric Stimulation: Some News from an Old Test

1.

Department of Medicine and Surgery, Pisa University Hospital, Pisa University Hospital, Pisa, Italy

2.

Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Pisa University Hospital, Pisa University Hospital, Pisa, Italy

J Int Adv Otol 2019; 15: 442-446
DOI: 10.5152/iao.2019.7430
Read: 1791 Downloads: 796 Published: 17 December 2019

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to improve the instrumental diagnosis of assessing Menière’s disease (MD) if the frequency and slow-phase velocity (SPV) of the thermally induced nystagmus analyzed through the caloric vestibular test (CVT) showed different alterations in relationship with an increasing severity of the cochlear involvement.

MATERIALS and METHODS: The study retrospectively analyzed the CVT results of 72 patients affected by unilateral “definite MD” according to the 2015 Barany Society Diagnostic Criteria and treated only conservatively.

RESULTS: There were 7 (9.72%) patients in stage 1, 27 (37.50%) in stage 2, 35 (48.61%) in stage 3, and 3 (4.16%) in stage 4. The canal paresis (CP) calculated through the frequency of the thermally induced nystagmus on the affected side increased in more severe stages (p=0.033). Conversely, the CP calculated through the SPV was not significantly different among the stages showing abnormal values even in the early phases of the disease (71% in stage 1, 81% in stage 2, 91% in stage 3, and 100% in stage 4), exclusively on the affected side.

CONCLUSION: Abnormalities of the thermally induced nystagmus on the affected side characterize most patients with MD, but only “SPV” alterations are common in the early stages. An increasing severity of the cochlear involvement progressively reflects also on the ”frequency” parameter. Detecting a dissociation between these two parameters could represent an instrumental marker of the early forms of MD.

Cite this article as: Cerchiai N, Navari E, Miccoli M, Casani AP. Menière’s Disease and Caloric Stimulation: Some News from an Old Test. J Int Adv Otol 2019; 15(3): 442-6.

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