Meniere's disease and delayed endolymphatic hydrops in children

In order to study the characteristics of pediatric patients (less than or e qual to 15 years at onset) with endolymphatic hydrops disorders, we selecte d 5 patients with Meniere's disease (MID) and 3 patients with delayed endol ymphatic hydrops (DEH) from 7418 patients who had visited the Neurotologica l Clinic of the Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University Hospital betwe en 1979 and 1999. Clinical features were characterized as follows: (i) pedi atric MID patients were rare, comprising approximate to 1.5% of all the 337 MD patients in the sample; (ii) a fluctuating hearing loss, strong positiv e response in glycerol test, high SP/AP amplitude ratio in electrocochleogr aphy and moderate positive response in furosemide vestibulo-ocular reflex t est were recorded; (iii) in 2 of the 5 pediatric MID patients, vertiginous attacks had persisted for a long period and they had undergone surgical pro cedures (sac operation and vestibular neurectomy) and (iv) the ipsilateral type of DEH was observed in 2/3 children, and contralateral DEH in 1/3.