Endolymphatic hydrops and blood–labyrinth barrier in Ménière's disease

Abstract

Fourteen ears with Ménière's disease showed intense Gd contrast on MRI compared with that in the 10 asymptomatic contralateral ears of patients with unilateral Ménière's disease (1.12 ± 0.36 vs 0.82 ± 0.15). The hydrops grade was correlated significantly with the contrast effect. The 14 ears with Ménière's disease had endolymphatic hydrops. Of the 10 contralateral ears of patients with unilateral Ménière's disease, 2 had endolymphatic hydrops in the cochlea and 6 had endolymphatic hydrops in the vestibule.

Comparison of Contrast Effect on the Cochlear Perilymph after Intratympanic and Intravenous Gadolinium Injection

“…In patients with unilateral Ménière disease who underwent the IV-method, the contrast effect of the affected side was significantly higher than that of the unaffected side, which is similar to the results of a previous study by Tagaya et al, 27 in which they analyzed almost the same patient groups from our institution, though the observer and the references for cochlear signal intensity calculation were different. The results of the present study and of the previous report suggest increased permeability of the blood-labyrinth barrier (more precisely, the blood-perilymph barrier) on the affected side of patients with unilateral Ménière disease.…”

Detection and Grading of Endolymphatic Hydrops in Menière Disease Using MR Imaging

“…Since the first publication of MR imaging visualization of EH in an animal study in 2001 15 and MR imaging demonstration of EH in patients with MD following intratympanic injection in 2007, 16 numerous studies have tried to visualize EH by using different routes of administration of contrast media, such as intratympanic 16 versus intravenous [17][18][19][20] and by altering intravenous dosage regimens (single, 13,17 24 and 3D-IR sequences. 13 On the basis of previous demonstration of the feasibility to separate the endoand perilymphatic space 24 hours after intratympanic gadolinium injection by a 3D-IR sequence 13 and the observation that perilymphatic enhancement occurs 4 hours after intravenous contrast administration, 21,25 our protocol comprised a 3D-IR sequence obtained 4 hours following intravenous injection of contrast media.…”

The Technical and Clinical Features of 3D-FLAIR in Neuroimaging

“…A combination of double-dose IV-GBCM and 3D-FLAIR imaging enabled the visualization of EH. [98][99][100] Usually, 4 h after IV-GBCM, MR imaging can be conducted.…”