The Effect of Steroids on Endolymphatic Hydrops Induced by an Immunological Technique

Steroids are less frequently used for the treatment of Meniere’s disease compared with their use for sudden deafness or facial paresis. Hauser [1] reported 2 cases of Meniere’s disease in which hearing was improved by the administration of steroids. McCabe [2], Hughes et al. [3, 4] and Shea [5] also reported the efficacy of steroids in cases of sensorineural hearing loss and/or Meniere’s disease with a suspected immunological origin. According to our 1970 and 1980 nationwide surveys [6, 7], incidences where otolaryngologists treated Meniere’s disease with steroids increased from 2% to 7%. It is true that steroids are one of the few drugs which have promising effects on certain types of Meniere’s disease. This study was made to examine the effects of steroids on endolymphatic hydrops experimentally induced in guinea pigs by an immunological technique [8].