2004 Volume 63 Issue 3 Pages 237-241
We treated 7 cases of Meniere's disease with an oral osmotic diuretic, isosorbide, at a dose of 90 ml per day for more than one year (mean: 31.7 months). One case suffered from bilateral Meniere's disease. The long-term administration of constant daily amounts of isosorbide attained good long-term results in vertigo but poor in hearing according to the criteria of the Japan Society for Equilibrium Research for Meniere's disease. The results were as follows: the administration of isosorbide completely controlled vertigo in 29% and improved it in 42%, however, hearing was unchanged in 71% and worsened in 29%. To see if long-term follow-up of Meniere's patients using electro-cochleogram (ECoG) is useful for determination of therapeutic effects of isosorbide and establishment of its effective medication protocol, we examined relation-ships between long-term results of oral medication of isosorbide and the medication-induced changes in dominant -SP of ECoG. All eight affected ears of seven cases showed dominant -SP at their first visit and half of them didn't show it anymore after the long-term medication. There was no significant relationship between normalization of ECoG findings and improvement of vertigo. These findings indicate that normalization of ECoG findings cannot be a good marker for determination of therapeutic effects of isosorbide or establishment of its effective medication protocol.
