Vestibular Aqueduct Morphology Correlates With Endolymphatic Sac Pathologies in Meniere's Disease-A Correlative Histology and Computed Tomography Study.

ABSTRACT:

Hypothesis

The vestibular aqueduct (VA) in Menière's disease (MD) exhibits different angular trajectories depending on the presenting endolymphatic sac (ES) pathology, i.e., 1) ES hypoplasia or 2) ES degeneration.

Background

Hypoplasia or degeneration of the ES was consistently found in inner ears affected by MD. The two etiologically distinct ES pathologies presumably represent two disease "endotypes," which may be associated with different clinical traits ("phenotypes") of MD. Recognizing these endotypes in the clinical setting requires a diagnostic tool.

Methods

1) Defining the angular trajectory of the VA (ATVA) in the axial plane. 2) Measuring age-dependent normative data for the ATVA in postmortem temporal bone histology material from normal adults and fetuses.

SUBMITTER: Bachinger D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6554006 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature