Effects of Intratympanic Gentamicin Treatement on Hearing and Vestibular Functions in a Case with Symptoms of Meniere’s Disease

Abstract

Meniere’s disease is an inner ear disorder characterized by vertigo, tinnitus, aural fullness and fluctuating hearing loss. Intra tympanic gentamicin administration is a form of treatment procedure used to alleviate the symptoms of Meniere’s disease. It is an amino glycoside antibiotic which damages the ill functioning labyrinth. Some of the earlier studies have reported that this procedure keeps hearing at risk though it improves vestibular symptoms. However, few studies have reported an improvement in hearing sensitivity and symptoms of Meniere’s disease. Present study highlights the detailed audiological evaluations before and after gentamicin therapy and its interpretations in a 50 year old female with symptoms of Meniere’s disease in the right ear. Immitance audiometry, pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry and oto acoustic emissions evaluation were carried out. Pre-treatment evaluations suggested severe sensorineural hearing loss in right ear and mild mixed hearing loss in left ear. Post treatment re-evaluations were done after three and seven days of treatment. Improvement in vestibular symptoms and bilateral hearing sensitivity were noted in the first re-evaluation and the same effects persisted along the second re –evaluation. The possible explanations for these findings are discussed in the paper.  The outcome of the study suggests detailed pre and post treatment audiological evaluations to monitor the benefits and side effects of such treatment procedures.