Intracranial Pressure Alterations in different phases of Ménière's Disease: Noninvasive MRI assessment of cerebrospinal fluid pressure

Motivation: Low cranial pressure can cause Ménière's Disease (MD) symptoms, but this link is unexplored. Traditional cerebrospinal fluid pressure (CSF-P) measurement methods are flawed. Goal(s): Our study employs a noninvasive MRI technique to assess CSF-P in MD patients, comparing intracranial pressure during acute and remission phases and its correlation with symptoms. Approach: We used MRI with a fat-suppressed fast recovery fast spin echo (FRFSE) T2-weighted sequence to measure the optic nerve subarachnoid space width (ONSASW) as a CSF-P indicator. Results: We found that CSF-P in the acute MD group was significantly lower than in the remission or control groups and correlated with hearing thresholds. Impact: This study first employs noninvasive MRI to measure intracranial pressure in Ménière's Disease (MD), revealing CSF-P reduction and its correlation with hearing thresholds in acute MD. The results could guide clinical treatments like diuretics and provide insights into MD's pathogenesis.