{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T17:33:46Z","timestamp":1770312826151,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,3]],"date-time":"2026-02-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770076800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Key Research and Development Program of China","award":["2023YFC2508400"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023YFC2508400"]}]},{"name":"National Key Research and Development Program of China","award":["2023YFC2508000"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023YFC2508000"]}]},{"name":"National Key Research and Development Program of China","award":["2023YFC2508001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023YFC2508001"]}]},{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province, China of Hubei Province","award":["2021CFB547"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021CFB547"]}]},{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province, China of Hubei Province","award":["2025AFB661"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025AFB661"]}]},{"name":"Science Foundation of Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology","award":["2024XHYN030"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024XHYN030"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objectives: To investigate the differences in inner ear anatomical variations between patients with acute low-tone sensorineural hearing loss (ALHL) and those with unilateral stage I\/II M\u00e9ni\u00e8re\u2019s disease (MD) based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods: A total of 30 patients with unilateral ALHL, 41 patients with unilateral stage I\/II MD, and 59 healthy controls were enrolled retrospectively. 3.0T MRI was used to evaluate the distance between the vertical part of the posterior semicircular canal and the posterior fossa (PPD) and vestibular aqueduct (VA) visibility. Inter-group and intra-group comparisons and correlation analyses were performed to clarify the characteristics of anatomical variations. Results: (1) There were no significant differences in PPD and VA visibility between ALHL patients and healthy controls; the PPD of unaffected ears in MD patients was significantly shorter than that in healthy controls, while no significant difference was observed in the PPD of affected ears between MD patients and healthy controls. (2) The VA visibility of affected ears in ALHL patients was significantly higher than that in MD patients. (3) No significant intra-group differences in PPD and VA visibility between affected and unaffected ears were noted in ALHL or MD patients. (4) A significant negative correlation was found between the PPD of affected ears and pure tone average of affected ears in MD patients, while no correlations were observed between anatomical indices and clinical characteristics in ALHL patients. Conclusions: Although both ALHL and MD are categorized as hydropic ear diseases, radiological evidences demonstrate that MD patients exhibit inner ear anatomical variations, whereas no significant anatomical variations are observed in ALHL patients. This suggests that anatomical variations in the endolymphatic drainage system may be a predisposing factor for the pathogenesis of unilateral MD rather than for unilateral ALHL.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics16030473","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,3]],"date-time":"2026-02-03T10:48:01Z","timestamp":1770115681000},"page":"473","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Inner Ear Anatomy Variations in Acute Low-Tone Sensorineural Hearing Loss and Unilateral Stage I\/II M\u00e9ni\u00e8re\u2019s Disease: A Comparative Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-8816-2227","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Qin","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, ENT Institute, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-1111-1370","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xingqian","family":"Shen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, ENT Institute, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Linlin","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, ENT Institute, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4426-1785","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yangming","family":"Leng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, ENT Institute, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China"},{"name":"Hubei Province Clinical Research Center for Deafness and Vertigo, Wuhan 430022, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cen","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China"},{"name":"Hubei Provincial Clinical Research Center for Precision Radiology & Interventional Medicine, Wuhan 430022, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ping","family":"Lei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China"},{"name":"Hubei Provincial Clinical Research Center for Precision Radiology & Interventional Medicine, Wuhan 430022, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1642-9867","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bo","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, ENT Institute, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China"},{"name":"Hubei Province Clinical Research Center for Deafness and Vertigo, Wuhan 430022, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"811","DOI":"10.1016\/j.anl.2024.06.004","article-title":"Clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of acute sensorineural hearing loss","volume":"51","author":"Kitoh","year":"2024","journal-title":"Auris Nasus Larynx"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"334","DOI":"10.21053\/ceo.2023.00486","article-title":"Findings of Intravenous Gadolinium Inner Ear MRI in Patients with Acute Low-Tone Sensorineural Hearing Loss","volume":"16","author":"Seo","year":"2023","journal-title":"Clin. 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