What is it?
Perilymphatic fistula is a tear or defect in the membranes that separate your middle ear and inner ear.
Your middle ear is filled with air, while your inner ear is filled with fluid (perilymph).
These two areas inside of your ear are separated by membranes.
If the membranes rupture, then perilymphatic fluid can flow from your inner ear into your middle ear.
The resulting pressure changes can cause balance and hearing problems.
In most cases it affects one ear, it rare that it affects both.
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Diagnosis Tests
Hearing tests
Balance tests
Electrocochleography, a test that measures the fluid pressure inside of your inner ear
A perilymphatic fistula test, which tracks your eye movements while pressure is applied to your ear canal.
Imaging tests to confirm your diagnosis. Perilymphatic fistula radiology tests may include:
A CT scan, which produces a 3D X-ray image of the structures inside of your body.
MRI, which captures images inside of your body using powerful magnets and radio waves.
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Cause
Can be of unknown cause
Head trauma , head injury including whiplash
Blowing your nose extremely hard
A punctured eardrum
Exposure to loud noises that are close to your ear, such as gunfire
Frequent ear infections
Ear trauma
Barotrauma (rapid changes in pressure due to flying, scuba diving, heavy lifting and childbirth)
Source: https://www.medindia.net/health/conditions/perilymph-fistula.htm
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Symptoms
Sudden hearing loss?
Hearing loss that comes and goes?
A feeling of fullness in the ear?
Vertigo ?Motion sickness and/or nausea?
Balance and dizziness problems?
Dizziness especially when tilting the head to the affected side?
Headache which is on and off or a constant headache longer than 24 hours?
Tinnitus (ringing in your ears)?Memory loss?
Symptoms worsen when laugh, sneeze or cough?
Increase in symptoms when lifting something heavy or changing altitudes?
Complications /Information to beware of/General tips: Treatment
Bed rest
Restricted activity is often the first line of treatment for perilymphatic fistulas.
Your healthcare provider may recommend bed rest for one to two weeks.
If improvement is noted, then further rest will be recommended until the issue is resolved.
Blood patch injections
During this procedure, your healthcare provider injects your own blood into your middle ear. This helps regenerate the damaged membrane.
Blood patch injections are somewhat new, and experts are still researching the treatment. So far, the results are encouraging.
Full recovery is normally after one month
Surgery
If conservative treatments don’t work, then your healthcare provider may recommend surgery.
During this procedure, your eardrum is gently lifted and tissue grafts are placed over the damaged membranes between your middle and inner ear.
Surgery isn’t right for everyone, so be sure to talk to your healthcare provider about the risks and limitations of this treatment.
The procedure generally takes between 30 and 60 minutes.
Your eardrum will be lifted through your ear canal so tissue grafts can be placed over the membranes between your inner and middle ear.
Dizziness often improves after surgery, but some research suggests hearing loss may not improve, even with surgery.
After surgery, it’s important to limit your activity for three days and for the next several weeks to a month, one will need to:
Avoid lifting more than 10 pounds
Avoid activities that could cause strain, including diving and lifting weights
Sleep with your head elevated
It’s important to follow all of your healthcare providers’ recommendations after surgery.
The recovery period may seem long, but straining the fistula before it fully heals can lead to a persistent fistula.
This condition may show similar symptoms to:
Meniere’s disease Vestibular neuritis- hot and red and swelling of parts of the ear that help with balance normally caused by an infection.
Labyrinthitis- a condition where one of the vestibular nerves in the ear becomes inflamed.
Please talk to your healthcare professional (i.e. Medical Doctor/Pharmacist) for further advice
Detailed Information
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