ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Altered immunity against one's own tissue, especially inner ear, is in part responsible for the development of Meniere's disease (MD). Since immunologic screening test results are usually nonspecific, even if tested for those patients suspicious of autoimmune inner ear disease, they do not seem to provide valuable information. The aim of this study is to evaluate the validity of immunologic screening laboratory tests for MD patients with type II collagen (CII) autoimmunity and to discuss the diagnostic role in this localized immunologic disease. MATERIALS AND METHOD:Thirty-six patients of MD in which immunologic screening laboratory test result was available were included in this study and their clinical features were described according to the criteria of AAO-HNS (1995). They were divided into two groups, CII(+) (N=8) or CII(-) (N=28) according to the presence of anti-CII antibody determined by ELISA method as described earlier. Rheumatoid factor (RF), Fluorescent antinuclear antibody (FANA), immunoglobulin G, M and A, and complement 3 and 4 were included for immunologic screening test. Individual test and clinical features were compared between groups. RESULTS:Any single test did not show significant correlation between groups. But RF, total IgG and the proportion of patients more than at least one marker are higher in CII(+) group with borderline significance. CONCLUSION:Higher positive rate of immunologic screening test may support the immunologic involvement in CII(+) group. However the role of this screening test seems to be limited in a localized disease like MD compared systemic immunologic disorder, such as rheumatoid arthritis.