LERMOYEZS-SYNDROME - ELECTROCOCHLEOGRAPHI C OBSERVATIONS

Lermoyez's syndrome is usually regarded as a rare variant of Meniere's disease with hearing improvement and reduction of tinnitus during ver tiginous attacks. Electrocochleographic studies of this syndrome are r estricted to one published case up to now. Methods: In our ENT departm ent we clinically and electrocochleographically examined three patient s suffering from Lermoyez's syndrome. These results were compared to t hose typically found in Meniere patients. Results: Two of the three pa tients did not show an elevated summating potential or increased ratio of summating potential and compound action potential (SP/CAP ratio). There was no hearing improvement following oral glycerol administratio n, and the SP/CAP ratio did not change during a Lermoyez attack. On th e other hand, we observed normal cochlear microphonics in ears affecte d by Lermoyez's syndrome, indicating good hair cell function. In one e ar, the threshold of cochlear microphonics was even better than the pu re tone threshold. Conclusions: Our observations suggest that endolymp hatic hydrops may not be always the underlying pathologic correlate of Lermoyez's syndrome. Thus Lermoyez's syndrome should not be simply re garded as a variant of Meniere's disease.