Endolymphatic hydrops and blood--labyrinth barrier in Méénièère's disease.

Conclusions: The blood--labyrinth barrier is impaired in association with the hydrops grade in Méénièère's disease. Objectives: To investigate the relationship between endolymphatic hydrops and the clinical characteristics of patients with Méénièère's disease revealed by 3 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods: A double dose of gadoteridol (Gd; 0.2 mmol/kg) was injected intravenously in 12 patients with Méénièère's disease. We performed three-dimensional fluid attenuated inversion recovery MRI and three-dimensional real inversion recovery MRI 4 h later using a 3 T MRI unit. Ten patients had unilateral and two had bilateral Méénièère's disease. Results: Fourteen ears with Méénièère's disease showed intense Gd contrast on MRI compared with that in the 10 asymptomatic contralateral ears of patients with unilateral Méénièère'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 Méénièère's disease had endolymphatic hydrops. Of the 10 contralateral ears of patients with unilateral Méénièère's disease, 2 had endolymphatic hydrops in the cochlea and 6 had endolymphatic hydrops in the vestibule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]