Short-term audiologic effect of intratympanic gadolinium contrast agent application in patients with Ménière's disease.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to assess whether gadolinium-based contrast agent influences short-term hearing function in patients with Ménière's disease undergoing intratympanically enhanced inner-ear magnetic resonance imaging.


METHODS
This is a prospective cohort study.


METHODS
This study was conducted a tertiary referral university hospital, ENT department.


METHODS
In this study, 21 adult patients with definite, unilateral Ménière's disease were included. According to the criteria of the Committee on Hearing and Equilibrium, all patients were in stage 1 or 2 of the disease, with largely preserved hearing function.


RESULTS
All patients underwent clinical and audiologic testing before and 24 hours after intratympanic application of gadolinium-based contrast agent. The effects of the contrast medium on the hearing function were assessed by analysis of frequency thresholds, pure-tone average from 500 Hz to 3 kHz, and speech audiometry.


RESULTS
Pure-tone average and single-frequency thresholds in audiometry showed no statistically significant difference after the application of intratympanic gadolinium-based contrast agent. Furthermore, speech audiometry scores remained stable after the application of the contrast agent.


CONCLUSIONS
This study did not demonstrate clinically significant short-term effects of intratympanic application of gadolinium-based contrast agent on hearing function in patients with Ménière's disease in initial stages.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Interdisciplinary Centre for Vertigo and Balance Disorders (IFB-LMU), Grosshadern Medical Centre, University of Munich, Munich, Germany. julia.louza@med.uni-muenchen.de
Julia Palo Rodrigues
JP
Louza
Wilhelm
W
Flatz
Eike
E
Krause
Robert
R
Gürkov
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001302:Audiometry, Speech; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006309:Hearing / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008575:Meniere Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D014432:Tympanic Membrane
D003287:Contrast Media; C064925:gadodiamide; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA