Diagnosis of
Meniere's disease is mainly clinical although many tests have been studied for efficacy in diagnosis of
Meniere's disease.
Glycerol test is a functional test to identify
hydrops in
Meniere's disease and can be done with PTA, Speech audiometry, otoacoustic emission, EcochG and cVEMP as its outcome measures. The study aimed to compare two outcome measures of
glycerol test to identify
Meniere's disease; to determine whether the stage of
Meniere's disease affected
glycerol outcomes; and to attempt to identify independent variables that could predict outcomes of
glycerol test. 26 ears of 20
Meniere's disease participants were evaluated using PTA-based and cVEMP-based
glycerol tests. Each test identified ten of 26 ears with
Meniere's disease; and high agreement was noted in the two outcome measures. The stage of
Meniere's disease based on four frequency hearing threshold average was not associated with outcome of
glycerol test, but staging of
Meniere's disease based on symptom duration was associated with
glycerol test results. As the duration of symptoms increased there was lesser chance of positive outcomes
on glycerol test; but intermediate stages of
Meniere's disease showed positive outcomes. Variables such as age, gender, severity of
hearing loss, duration of symptoms and pre-
glycerol cVEMP measurements could not predict
glycerol test outcomes. PTA-based and cVEMP- based
glycerol tests hold promise in the test battery for identification of
Meniere's disease. Positive findings on the test lead to confirmatory diagnosis but a negative
glycerol test does not rule out
Meniere's disease.