Influence of Meniett® treatment on hearing.

CONCLUSIONS

Meniett® treatment was not shown to avoid deterioration of hearing threshold in patients with Meniere's disease (MD), even when achieving a fairly good therapeutic outcome on vertigo control.

OBJECTIVES

To describe the effect of Meniett® treatment on hearing threshold in patients with MD.

METHODS

From a cohort of 55 patients with diagnosis of definitive MD, who underwent Meniett® treatment over the last decade, 27 were selected for the present study as having at least 2 years from the end of treatment. They all received the treatment for 1 month and underwent hearing evaluation as pure tone average (PTA) from 500 to 4000 Hertz at the time of diagnosis, immediately before the treatment, immediately after the treatment, and at the end of the follow-up. Vertigo control was assessed by applying the 1995 AAO-HNS criteria as well as by administration of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) questionnaire. Statistical analysis was carried out using paired t test, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and multiple linear regressions.

RESULTS

PTA values increased on average by 7.1 dB (95% CI = 2.7-11.5; p = 0.003) during the time period from the beginning of the treatment to the end of the follow-up. Q scores decreased on average by 20.6 (95% CI = 8.8-32.4; p < 0.001) during the pre- and post-Meniett® time-span. These two outcomes appeared not to influence each other.