Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH) and Endolymphatic Hydrops

TLDR

Plasma antidiuretic hormone was quantified by radioimmunoassay using a reversed‑phase C silica column in 300 patients with vertigo, dizziness, or deafness, including 119 with Meniere’s disease. Patients with Meniere’s disease or other endolymphatic hydrops showed markedly higher p‑ADH levels, which correlated with vertigo attacks, positive glycerol test results, and a negative summating potential on electrocochleography, whereas those without hydrops did not, indicating that ADH dysregulation may drive the vertigo and deafness seen in endolymphatic hydrops.

Abstract

Plasma antidiuretic hormone (p-ADH) concentrations were determined with a radioimmunoassay, using a reversed-phase C., silica column, in 300 patients with vertigo, dizziness and/or deafness; 119 of them had a diagnosis of Meniere's disease. The p-ADH level was significantly elevated in patients with Meniere's disease and others with endolymphatic hydrops, e.g. cochlear Meniere's disease or delayed hydrops. By contrast, the p-ADH level was not so high in cases without the endolymphatic hydrops. The increase in the p-ADH level was closely linked to vertigo attacks, the glycerol test results and an enhanced negative summating potential (SP) in electrocochleogram (ECochG). These results lead to the assumption that disorders of ADH-dependent hormonal control in the inner ear may constitute the possible mechanism underlying vertigmous attacks and deafness in patients with endolymphatic hydrops.