Value of clinical data and vestibular testing in a population of 101 patients with recurrent vestibulopathy

Abstract

Meniere’s disease is characterised by episodic vertigo, fluctuating hearing loss, aural pressure and tinnitus. Vestibular testing is not even a recommendation in the AAO-HNS guidelines, one of the most used classifications to diagnose Meniere’s disease. Vestibular migraine is a term used to describe a vertigo syndrome in patients with a history of migraines with or without aura1 that may affect up to 1% of the general population.2 In the first year after onset of symptoms, differentiation of Vestibular migraine from Meniere’s disease is a challenge because of the overlap in clinical features.3 Some authors have suggested that Meniere’s disease may coexist with migraines.4–6 The aim of this study is to evaluate the difficulties in the diagnosis based on clinical features of a population of recurrent vestibulopathy congruent with Meniere’s disease and Vestibular migraine within a period of 2 years. As vestibular testing is not even a recommendation in the AAO-HNS guidelines,7 and the role of vestibular tests for the diagnosis of Vestibular migraine is not well established,8 we want to analyse the value of vestibular testing in those patients.