Local Over-Pressure Treatment
Beginning with experiments involving
divers and pilots, the direct effects of external pressure on inner
ear hydrodynamics have been studied for over 30 years.1,
2 The first attempts to control the symptoms of Ménière's
Disease through ambient pressure changes occurred in 1976, when
patients with acute symptoms were treated in a hypobaric pressure
chamber.3 Scientists
observed that the patients' symptoms improved in response to a
relative over-pressure created in the middle ear, yet worsened when a
relative under-pressure was induced. The effects of pressure
treatments on endolymphatic hydrops and symptoms of Ménière's
Disease were demonstrated by several studies in the 1980s, as well.
The clinical observations in these studies suggested a different approach to therapy. Pressure chamber therapy was used with some success for acute attacks of vertigo,4 but it was cumbersome, expensive, and not widely available. The need for a simple, safe, effective and practical method of treatment was obvious, and led to the development of a local pressure treatment device by Dr. Barbara Densert, a Swedish physician. The Meniett®
Low-Pressure Pulse Generator delivers specific wave forms of
energy to the middle ear, and subsequently, the inner ear fluids, to
cause relief of endolymphatic hydrops and the symptoms of Ménière's
Disease.
The device delivers a computer-controlled, complex algorithm of low
pressure pulses that are transmitted to the middle ear space and act
on the round window membrane. It is believed that the energy of the
pressure pulses causes a displacement of the perilymphatic fluid,
which stimulates the flow of endolymphatic fluid and results in a
reduction of endolymphatic fluid.
Learn more about the Meniett
device.
1. Lundgren CEG. Alternobaric vertigo
– a diving hazard. Br Med J. 1965;2:511-3.
2. Tjernström Ö. 1974. Alternobaric
vertigo. An experimental study in man of vertigo due to atmospheric
pressure changes. Thesis, Malmö General Hospital. 1974.
3. Ingelstedt S., Ivarsson A.,
Tjernström ö., Immediate relief of symptoms during acute attacks of
Ménière's disease, using a pressure chamber. Acta Otolaryngol
Stockh. 1976, 82(5-6): 368-378.
4. Younger R., Longridge N.S.,
Mekjavic I., Effect of reduced atmospheric pressure on patients with
fluctuating hearing loss due to Ménière's disease. J
Otolaryngology, 1984, 13: 76-82.
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