The correlation of hearing prognosis and caloric test results in Meniere’s disease: a follow up study

Abstract

Background

Hearing loss is important in the diagnosis and treatment of Meniere’s disease (MD). However, little is known about the factors associated with hearing changes in MD.

Aims/objectives

This study aimed to investigate the correlation between hearing prognosis and caloric test (CT) results in MD.

Material and methods

Ninety consecutive patients diagnosed with unilateral definite MD underwent pure tone audiometry (PTA) and CT at initial visits, and were re-tested PTA at the 6-month follow-up.

Results

Fifty-three of ninety MD patients (58.89%) had abnormal CT results. The change of PTA (cPTA = initial PTA-last PTA) was negatively correlated with canal paresis (CP) values (overall association p = 0.032 and non-linear association p = 0.413). Multivariate linear model showed that as the CP value changed from 0 to 1, the cPTA decreased by −13.31 dB (95% CI: −24.03, −2.6) (p = 0.016). Stratified analysis found that the association was present in MD patients of Stage 1 and 2 (p < 0.05) but not in patients of Stage 3 and 4 (p > 0.05).

Conclusions and significance

Elevated CP values may be linked to worse hearing outcomes in MD, especially in Stage 1 and 2 patients. Conducting a caloric test at the initial consultation may aid in assessing hearing regression in MD.

Chinese Abstract

背景：听力损失对于梅尼埃病（MD）的诊断和治疗很重要。然而, 人们对与 MD 听力变化相关的因素知之甚少。

目的：本研究旨在调查MD的听力预后与热量测试（CT）结果之间的相关性。

材料和方法：连续 90 名诊断为单侧明确 MD 的患者在初次就诊时接受了纯音听力测试（PTA）和 CT, 并在 6 个月随访时重新测试 PTA。

结果：90例MD患者中有53例（58.89%）CT结果异常。 PTA的变化（cPTA =初始 PTA-最终 PTA）与耳管麻痹 (CP) 值呈负相关（总体相关p = 0.032 和非线性相关p = 0.413）。 多元线性模型表明, 随着 CP 值从 0 变为 1, cPTA 降低了 -13.31dB (95% CI: -24.03, -2.6) (p=0.016)。 分层分析发现, 这种相关性存在于 1 期和 2 期 MD 患者 (p<0.05), 但不存在于3 期和 4 期患者 (p>0.05)。

结论和意义： CP 值升高可能与 MD 患者的听力结果较差有关, 对于 1 期和 2 期患者尤其如此。 在初诊时进行热量测试可能有助于评估MD 患者的听力退化。

Keywords:

• Meniere’s disease
• prognosis
• hearing loss
• caloric test
• vestibular function

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, [B.L.]. The data are not publicly available due to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the [National Key Research and Development Program] under Grant [2020YFC2005200] and [Priority Medical Science Program of Tongren Hospital] under Grant [trzdyxzy201802].