Histopathologic changes of contralateral human temporal bone in unilateral Ménière's disease.
OBJECTIVE
To disclose the histopathologic findings in the contralateral temporal bone in unilateral Ménière's disease.


BACKGROUND
Several functional studies reported abnormal findings in the contralateral ears in patients with unilateral Ménière's disease.


METHODS
This study involved quantitative analysis, including the number of spiral ganglion cells, the loss of cochlear hair cells, the area of stria vascularis, and the density of fibrocytes in the spiral ligament. It included 14 temporal bones from 7 subjects with bilateral Ménière's disease, 30 temporal bones from 15 subjects with unilateral Ménière's disease, and 17 age-matched normal control temporal bones from 12 subjects.


RESULTS
The mean number of spiral ganglion cells in the contralateral temporal bones in patients with unilateral Ménière's disease was 17,376.0 and was significantly lower than that in normal controls. The mean loss of inner and outer hair cells in the contralateral temporal bones in patients with unilateral Ménière's disease was significantly greater than that in normal controls in all turns. The stria vascularis was severely atrophic and degenerated in patients with Ménière's disease. The mean area of stria vascularis in contralateral temporal bones in patients with unilateral Ménière's disease was significantly smaller than normal controls. There was no significant difference in the density of fibrocytes in the spiral ligament between the diseased side and the contralateral side in patients with unilateral Ménière's disease and between normal control and contralateral side.


CONCLUSIONS
The contralateral inner ear in patients with unilateral Ménière's disease has significantly more damage compared with inner ears of normal controls.
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan.
Shin
S
Kariya
Sebahattin
S
Cureoglu
Hisaki
H
Fukushima
Takeshi
T
Kusunoki
Patricia A
PA
Schachern
Kazunori
K
Nishizaki
Michael M
MM
Paparella
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018159:Endolymphatic Hydrops / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D018069:Hair Cells, Vestibular / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008575:Meniere Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013136:Spiral Ganglion / Q000473:pathology; D013137:Spiral Lamina / Q000473:pathology; D013316:Stria Vascularis / Q000473:pathology; D013701:Temporal Bone / Q000473:pathology*