Multimodal Inner Ear Imaging in Vestibular Disorders

A special issue of Audiology Research (ISSN 2039-4349). This special issue belongs to the section "Balance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 130

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders (DSGZ), LMU University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich, Marchioninistraße 15, 81377 Munich, Germany
Interests: inner ear; vertigo; vestibular system; spatial orientation; endolymphatic hydrops; dementia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders, LMU University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich, Marchioninistraße 15, 81377 Munich, Germany
Interests: magnetic vestibular stimulation (MVS); motion aftereffect (MAE); higher-order vestibular function

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last few decades, inner ear imaging has advanced substantially and can now provide crucial insights into the pathophysiology of vestibular disorders. Be it high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computer tomography (CT) for structural assessment of inner ear structures, delayed contrast-enhanced MRI for imaging of the endolymphatic space, functional methods such as fMRI or functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for vestibulocochlear nerve integrity assessment, or other methods, multimodal inner ear imaging has many usage scenarios for clinical diagnosis and vestibular research.

This Special Issue therefore aims to collect high-quality original papers or reviews on novel imaging approaches and their clinical or scientific application in vestibular disorders, for example, in Menière’s disease (MD) or vestibular migraine (VM). We welcome research on various imaging modalities, technical papers, and new analysis methods. We furthermore invite authors to use state-of-the-art neuroimaging approaches in their data processing, i.e., not solely relying on radiological visual assessment of imaging data but also performing quantitative analyses.

The scope of this Special Issue includes the following topics:

  • Novel imaging-based biomarkers of vestibular disorders;
  • Usage of vestibular imaging in the clinical differentiation of vestibular disorders;
  • Basic imaging-based research on the vestibular system;
  • New analysis methods of vestibular imaging data.

Dr. Johannes Gerb
Dr. Rainer Boegle
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Audiology Research is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • inner ear MRI
  • vestibular disorders
  • multimodal imaging
  • vertigo
  • endolymphatic hydrops
  • vestibular system
  • Menière’s disease
  • vestibular migraine

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 1079 KB  
Article
Vibration-Induced Nystagmus in Patients with Ménière’s Disease: Is There a Correlation to Endolymphatic Hydrops?
by Joan Lorente-Piera, Melissa Blanco, Raquel Manrique-Huarte, Adriana David, Victor Suarez-Vega, Angel Batuecas-Caletrío, Gloria Liaño Esteve, Pablo Dominguez and Nicolás Pérez-Fernández
Audiol. Res. 2025, 15(5), 125; https://doi.org/10.3390/audiolres15050125 - 28 Sep 2025
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Skull vibration-induced nystagmus (SVIN) is a rapid bedside test that reveals vestibular asymmetry. Its clinical utility in Ménière’s disease (MD) remains controversial, particularly regarding its association with radiological endolymphatic hydrops (EH). This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between SVIN, audiovestibular [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Skull vibration-induced nystagmus (SVIN) is a rapid bedside test that reveals vestibular asymmetry. Its clinical utility in Ménière’s disease (MD) remains controversial, particularly regarding its association with radiological endolymphatic hydrops (EH). This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between SVIN, audiovestibular parameters, and EH severity in patients with unilateral definite MD. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted at a tertiary academic referral center and included patients with unilateral MD who underwent SVIN testing (SVT), audiovestibular evaluation (PTA, cVEMP, oVEMP, vHIT, and caloric testing), and 3T MRI with gadolinium-enhanced 3D-FLAIR sequences to quantify EH. Results: In total, 84 patients were included in the study. SVIN was present in 57.14% of patients (n = 48), with ipsilesional nystagmus being the most frequent subtype (64.58%). Patients with SVIN had significantly higher vestibular EH (p = 0.017) and vestibular endolymphatic ratio (REL) in the affected ear (p = 0.019). Disease duration (p = 0.026) and shorter time since last vertigo spell (p = 0.018) were also associated with SVIN presence. REL correlated moderately with disease duration (r = 0.390, p < 0.001), PTA (r = 0.576, p < 0.001), and number of vertigo spells (r = 0.236, p = 0.031), but not with time since last crisis (r = −0.127, p = 0.252). ROC analysis yielded an AUC of 0.735 for REL in predicting SVIN. Conclusions: SVIN correlates with the severity of vestibular EH. This finding indicates a stimulus-locked response of a vestibular asymmetry rather than a purely structural alteration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multimodal Inner Ear Imaging in Vestibular Disorders)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop