AUTHOR=Yuan Xiaojia , Li Xiaozhen , Xu Yu , Zhong Liqun , Yan Zhanfeng , Chen Zhengguang 

TITLE=Microstructural changes of the vestibulocochlear nerve in patients with Ménière's disease using diffusion tensor imaging

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2022.915826

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2022.915826

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=Objective  To evaluate the microstructural changes of vestibulocochlear nerve in patients with Ménière’s disease.
Methods A total of 26 subjects, 13 patients with MD and 13 healthy controls underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) on a 3T scanner. The independent sample t-test was used to compare the differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) between two groups. Spearman correlation was used between DTI and the dizziness handicap inventory（DHI）scores. 
Results There were a significant decrease in FA and an increase in ADC of the vestibulocochlear nerve in MD patients compared with healthy controls (P = 0.039, P = 0.001). FA had strong correlations with the DHI score (r= -0.756, P = 0.011). 
Conclusions These results are the first evidence of possible changes in the microstructure of the vestibulocochlear nerves in patients with MD, which indicates DTI may contribute to the diagnosis of MD. DTI is an potential technique in evaluating the the vestibulocochlear nerve in patients with MD.