メニエール病の聴覚に関する実験的研究

抄録

The characteristic hearing loss of Meniere's disease is both diagnostically and therapeutically important symptom. According to the cause of this hearing loss, there were built up many hypothese. This pathogenesis, however, remains obscure. In order to elucidate the cause of this hearing loss, and to establish the ground of the medical and surgical decompression of endolymph which is the chief therapy of Meniere's disease, an electrophysiologic study was conducted.
The results were as follows: 1) The anoxia of inner ear was not thought to cause the hearing loss of Meniere's disease. 2) Experimentally induced retension hydrops caused hearing loss in proportion to the grade of the hydrops. This hearing loss resembles that in the remission phase of Meniere's disease. 3) The increase of endolymph pressure caused the hearing loss associated with an enhanced negative summating potentials. Also, the potassium elevation in scala tympani caused the same hearing loss. Therefore, the increase of endolymph pressure and/or potassium concentration in scala tympani is thought to be the cause of the active phase in Meniere's disease. 4) The hearing loss of hydrops animals was improved by intravenous injection of glycerol. Thus, the endolymphatic hydrops was proved electrophysiologically to be detected by glycerol test. 5) Within a limit, the opening of the endolymphatic sac reduced the hearing loss induced by hypertension of endolymph.