Noninvasive assessment of the intralabyrinthine pressure. A new technique applied to patients with X-linked progressive mixed deafness syndrome with perilymphatic gusher during stapes surgery.

In this report, we describe the findings of a noninvasive assessment of the intralabyrinthine pressure in two patients from a family with X-linked progressive, mixed deafness syndrome in whom a perilymphatic gusher occurs during stapes surgery. The so-called tympanic membrane displacement measurement technique could be successfully applied in these two patients (from a total of five patients who were studied) because they still showed a stapedial reflex at 1 kHz, which is mandatory for application of the tympanic membrane displacement measurement technique. The findings were compared with those of age-related control subjects and indicated a significantly elevated intralabyrinthine pressure in the two patients who were observed. The results suggest that the tympanic membrane displacement measurement technique may serve as a screening test in audiological diagnostic studies of perilymphatic hypertension.