Affiliations: [a]
University Hospital, ENT Department, Strasbourg, France
| [b] Neurosensory Biophysics, UMR INSERM 1107, University Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France | [c] Centre Jean Perrin, Clermont-Ferrand, France | [d] Institut de l’Audition, Centre Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Idir Djennaoui, ENT department, Hôpital Hautepierre, 1 avenue Moliere, 67200 Strasbourg, France. Tel.: +33 388 127 636; E-mail: idir.djennaoui@chru-strasbourg.fr.
Abstract: Meniere’s disease (MD) still raises since its discovery in 1860 pathophysiological and etiopathogenical issues. The main pathophysiological feature that has emerged for decades is an anatomic one, the endolymphatic hydrops (EH), defined by the inflation of the endolymphatic part of the membranous labyrinth. However, the causal relationship between EH and MD has not been proven. Several attempts have been achieved in animals to induce EH. The best known is the blockage of the vestibular duct, which causes a chronic volume inflation of the endolymphatic part. This model is characterized by the discrepancy between electrophysiological findings and scala media inflation. Pressure measurements vary among studies. The endolymphatic infusion model, which attempts to model the acute clinical picture of MD consistently shows pressure equilibration between the endolymphatic and perilymphatic compartments, and rapid recovery of the electrophysiological finding once the injection is stopped.
