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Decompression sickness of the inner ear and relationship with a patent oval foramen: a study of 61 cases

  • Otology
  • Published:
European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To discuss the link between inner ear decompression sickness and patent foramen ovale.

Materials and methods

Monocentric and retrospective study on decompression sickness of the inner ear requiring hyperbaric chamber treatment, from 2014 to 2021.

Results

Sixty-one patients of inner ear decompression sickness were included in this study. Twenty-four patients had vestibular injuries, 28 cochlear injuries and 9 cochleo-vestibular injuries. Compression chamber treatment was given, using an oxygen–helium mixture with oxygen partial pressure (PIO2) limited to 2.8 atmosphere absolute (ATA). All vestibular accidents completely recovered without clinical sequelae.

For cochlear accident only 10 out of 37 patients (27%) recovered completely.

A right–left shunt (patent foramen oval or intra-pulmonary shunt) was found in 31.1% of patients with inner ear decompression sickness (p > 0.05).

Conclusion

The presence of patent foramen oval in patients with inner ear decompression was not statistically significant in our study. Understanding of the pathophysiology of decompression illness and the physiology and anatomy of the labyrinth would suggest a mechanism of supersaturation with degassing in intra-labyrinthine liquids.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Grenoble-Alpes, BP 217, 38043, Grenoble Cedex 09, France

    Raphaële Quatre, Sébastien Schmerber & Edouard Soriano

  2. GeodAIsics, Grenoble, France

    Raphaële Quatre

  3. BrainTech Lab INSERM UMR 2015, Grenoble, France

    Raphaële Quatre & Sébastien Schmerber

  4. Service de Médecine Hyperbare, CHU de Lyon, University of Lyon, Lyon, France

    Bertrand Delafosse

Authors
  1. Raphaële Quatre
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  2. Bertrand Delafosse
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  3. Sébastien Schmerber
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  4. Edouard Soriano
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Correspondence to Raphaële Quatre.

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Ethical approval: 2023-09-029-RQ.

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Quatre, R., Delafosse, B., Schmerber, S. et al. Decompression sickness of the inner ear and relationship with a patent oval foramen: a study of 61 cases. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 281, 4057–4061 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-024-08544-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-024-08544-w

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