Noninvasive in-ear monitoring of intracranial pressure during microgravity in parabolic flights.

Among possible causes of visual impairment or headache experienced by astronauts in microgravity or postflight and that hamper their performance, elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) has been invoked but never measured for lack of noninvasive methods. The goal of this work was to test two noninvasive methods of ICP monitoring using in-ear detectors of ICP-dependent auditory responses, acoustic and electric, in acute microgravity afforded by parabolic flights. The devices detecting these responses were handheld tablets routinely used in otolaryngology for hearing diagnosis, which were customized for ICP extraction and serviceable by unskilled operators. These methods had been previously validated against invasive ICP measurements in neurosurgery patients. The two methods concurred in their estimation of ICP changes with microgravity, i.e., 11.0 ± 7.7 mmHg for the acoustic method ( n = 7 subjects with valid results out of 30, auditory responses being masked by excessive in-flight noise in 23 subjects) and 11.3 ± 10.6 mmHg for the electric method ( n = 10 subjects with valid results out of 10 tested despite the in-flight noise). These results agree with recent publications using invasive access to cerebrospinal fluid in parabolic flights and suggest that acute microgravity has a moderate average effect on ICP, similar to body tilt from upright to supine, yet with some subjects undergoing large effects whereas others seem immune. The electric in-ear method would be suitable for ICP monitoring in circumstances and with subjects such that invasive measurements are excluded. NEW & NOTEWORTHY In-ear detectors of intracranial pressure-dependent auditory responses allow intracranial pressure to be monitored noninvasively during acute microgravity. The average pressure increase during 20-s long sessions in microgravity is 11 mmHg, comparable with an effect of body tilt. However, intersubject variability is large, with subjects who repeatedly experience from nothing to twice the average effect. A systematic in-flight use would allow the relationship between space adaptation syndrome and ICP to be established or dismissed.

Abnormal fast fluctuations of electrocochleography and otoacoustic emissions in Menière's disease.

The responses of cochlear hair cells to sound stimuli depend on the resting position of their stereocilia bundles, which is sensitive to the chemical and mechanical environment. Cochlear hydrops, a hallmark of Menière's disease (MD), which is likely to come with disruption of this environment, results in hearing symptoms and electrophysiological signs, such as excessive changes in the cochlear summating potential (SP) and in the postural shifts of distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs). Here, SP from the basal part of the cochlea and DPOAEs from the apical part of the cochlea were recorded concomitantly in 73 patients with a definite MD, near an attack (n = 40) or between attacks with no clinical symptoms (n = 33), to compare their sensitivities to posture and evaluate their stability. The phase of the 2f1-f2 DPOAEs was monitored during body tilt, with stimuli f1 = 1 kHz and f2 = 1.2 kHz at 72 dB SPL. Extratympanic electrocochleography was performed in response to 95-dBnHL clicks. The normal limits of the DPOAE phase shift with body tilt, [-18°, +38°], and of the SP to action-potential (AP) ratio, <0.40, were exceeded in 75% and 60% of patients, respectively, near an attack. In these patients, but not in the asymptomatic ones, both tests reveal fluctuating cochlear responses from one data sample to the next. They emphasize how hydrops hinders normal hair-cell operation and may generate fast fluctuations in inner-ear functioning. If these fluctuations also occur on shorter time scales, it might explain the imperfect diagnostic sensitivity of SP and DPOAE tests, as averaging procedures would tend to level out transient fluctuations characteristic of hydrops.