Intraoperative mitomycin C in endolymphatic sec surgery for Meniere's disease: A pilot study

The long-term results of endolymphatic sac (ES) shunt surgery in Meniere's disease have been reported to be unsatisfactory compared to the short-term results, probably because of fibrosis and/or reclosure of the incised ES, T o solve this problem, we tried to apply mitomycin C (MMC) intraoperatively to the incised ES as used in trabeculectomy for glaucoma. MMC has an antipr oliferative effect as well as an antineoplastic effect. Thus, it is expecte d that MMC would have a benefit to prevent rapid fibrosis and/or reclosure of the ES, MMC did not show any ototoxicity in our animal study and we star ted a clinical trial after being approved by the Ethics Committee for Human Research at our university. Fourteen patients with Meniere's disease under went ES mastoid shunt surgery with intraoperative application of MMC and th ey were followed up more than 6 months. No patients experienced vertigo, al though some complained of slight dizziness. Five patients out of 14 showed remarkable hearing improvement by more than 10 dB, accompanied with decreas e of tinnitus.