Multifrequency admittancemetry in Ménière's Disease: a preliminary study for a new diagnostic test.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the qualitative and quantitative aspects of multifrequency tympanograms in patients with Ménière's disease.

STUDY DESIGN

Prospective study of adults.

SETTING

University medical center.

PATIENTS

Forty patients with Ménière's disease outside of episodes and 24 normal-hearing subjects with no otologic history.

INTERVENTIONS

Resonance frequency sweep and tympanograms of admittance, conductance, and susceptance at 2 kHz and at resonance frequency were performed in each ear.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

A qualitative assessment was performed to find reproducible and comparable tympanograms (Student's t test) as a prerequisite for quantitative assessment. Four measurement criteria were compared between the groups to establish a diagnostic test (chi Pearson test). A p value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

Resonance frequency was decreased in Ménière's disease. Only conductance tympanograms at 2 kHz had a constant pattern. Width of conductance tympanograms at 2 kHz was increased in symptomatic Ménière's disease compared with normal ears. Using conductance width at 2 kHz as a diagnostic test with a threshold of 235 daPa, we found a statistically significant difference between symptomatic ears of patients with Ménière's disease and ears of normal subjects (p < 10). More than 95% of normal subjects' ears had a negative test; 56.5% of affected ears of patients with Ménière's disease and 45.8% of nonaffected ears of patients with Ménière's disease had a positive test.

CONCLUSION

Width of conductance at 2 kHz seems to be a sensitive, simple diagnostic test in Ménière's disease. It would also be of great interest in studying Ménière's disease bilaterality.