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Contact the study team using the details below to take part. If there are no contact details below please ask your doctor in the first instance.
Diseases of inner ear
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Meniere’s Disease (MD) is an inner ear (IE) disorder characterised by episodic attacks of vertigo and progressive hearing loss. The dizzy spells in particular can be severely disabling. The structural correlate of MD is endolymphatic hydrops (EH), in which the smaller central endolymphatic compartment of IE expands into the surrounding perilymphatic chambers. The diagnosis of MD can be elusive since it relies on subjective reporting of symptoms and definitive diagnostic tests have yet to be established.
The currently available high resolution T2-weighted (T2w) MRI sequences are unable to distinguish the different compartments within IE. Recent developments in MRI technology and techniques, however, have enabled visualisation of the different IE compartments and demonstration of EH. The clinical application of high resolution sequences at 3T (T=Tesla, a measure of the magnetic field strength) with delayed post intravenous gadolinium studies is now being explored. Identification of radiologically EH may facilitate earlier diagnosis, thus guiding future treatment. It may also provide useful information in difficult cases where the diagnosis is not clear cut. Furthermore, the identification of bilateral changes in a patient with unilateral fluctuating symptoms might predict future bilateral disease and potentially influence therapeutic approaches, which is particularly important when considering the more invasive/irreversible treatment options.
Although significant progress has been made, there are still a number of deficiencies, which we propose to address in this study. Firstly, due to the small size of the structures being imaged and artefacts from the surrounding structures, accurate delineation of some of the structures still is very challenging; imaging at 7T may allow superior definition of these structures, enhancing diagnostic confidence. Secondly, it is possible that high resolution T2w imaging at 7T will allow reproducible detection of internal IE structures which correlate with the size of endolymphatic structures on the 3T current protocol, thus obviating the need for a delayed intravenous contrast study.
Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.
The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:
Observational type: Cross-sectional;
You can take part if:
You may not be able to take part if:
- Standard contraindications to 7T MRI. - Known allergy to Gadolinium contrast. - Calculated GFR (Cockroft or EDTA) < 30 mls/min. - Previous temporal bone surgery or trauma. - Other known temporal bone pathology. - Requirement for early post gadolinium sequences (e.g. autoimmune inner disease as a differential diagnosis).
Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.
The study is sponsored by King's College London and funded by Royal College of Radiologists .
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Read full details
for Trial ID: CPMS 45570
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