Eustachian tube function in Menière's disease

Long-term middle ear pressure measurements in inner ear disorders

“…Although pathological middle ear pressure has been found in patients with Meniere's disease [6,7,8], other studies could not confirm such findings [10,11]. Due to regulation mechanisms middle ear pressure is mostly constant in healthy subjects.…”

“…Hence, the group of patients with Meniere's disease displayed pathological tympanic pressure values on average but also had heterogeneous subgroups showing different pressure profiles. This might be an explanation for contradictory reports by other authors about middle ear pressure in Meniere's disease [6,7,8,9,10,11]. Studies might have tested different patient groups with Meniere's disease.…”

“…Pathological dynamics of middle ear pressure might exist in Meniere's disease, resulting in normal as well as pathological pressure values. Such pathological pressure values, which have been missed or detected in former studies [6,7,8,9,10,11], might have an impact on the balance of the hydrostatic pressures in the inner ear, which is known to be disturbed in Meniere's disease. Pathological dynamics of the middle ear pressure might play a role in the pathogenesis of Meniere's disease.…”

“…The retrospective examination by Forquer and Brackmann showed a similar percentage of Meniere's disease patients with abnormal pressure compared to subjects in the control group [10]. Cinnamond also reported normal middle ear pressure values in most studied patients with vertigo [11].…”

Inadequate opening capacity of the eustachian tube in Meniere's disease

“…Consequently, he proposed the use of ventilation tubes (VTs) through the tympanic membrane. The initial enthusiasm for his ideas faded due to unconvincing support for pathological ME pressure in patients with MD in studies using tympanometry [2][3][4]. However, tympanometry gives a snapshot of the ME pressure and does not necessarily reveal dynamic events resulting from malfunction of the ET.…”