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Meniere's disease, pathology unpredictable behavior

Meniere's disease, pathology unpredictable behavior

Top Doctors
Top Doctors editorial
Top Doctors
Created by: Top Doctors editorial
Edited by: TOP DOCTORS® at 18/03/2019

Meniere's disease is a disease of the inner ear. Usually it gives discomfort because of increased fluid within the duct and endolymphatic sac at the level of the inner ear. There are several treatment options, dietary, medical and surgical.

Dr.. Eva Maria Herrera Baltazar

Vertigo Meniere's disease, also known as endolymphatic hydrops, is a frequent cause of loss of balance and is an inner ear and nfermedad. It is characterized by dizzy spells, changes in hearing, ear fullness and tinnitus.

In most cases you do not get to find a specific cause allergies have been studied, anatomical, infectious, and autoimmune diseases factors; Whatever the etiology, symptoms are caused by increased fluid within the duct and endolymphatic sac at the level of the inner ear.

What are the symptoms?

They are presented as episodic crises that can last for hours, for weeks or months, where the patient may have

  1. Diminution of hearing, the patient feels that for better or worse their hearing moments, we call this fluctuating hearing loss.
  2. Vertigo
  3. Ringing in the ears that can be continuous or intermittent and intensifies during episodic vertigo
  4. Clogged ear sensation

How the diagnosis is made?

Diagnosis is by clinical suspicion, realizing it by exclusion, this requires both laboratory studies and laboratory and imaging.

It must carry out:

Audiometry, electronystagmography

antitreponemal antibodies

Autoimmune serology

Imaging studies such as MRI, are useful to rule it other pathologies, in the differential diagnosis, as retrocochlear tumors.

Treatment

Primary treatment

  • Low - salt diet
  • Diuretics like hydrochlorothiazide
  • Some patients benefit from the restriction of caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, chocolate, aged cheeses and sausages.

Treatment of vertigo crisis

  • vestibular suppressants
  • antiemetics

Treatment with aminoglycosides

In cases where patients do not respond to medical treatment and persists with dizzy spells that affect their quality of life and daily functioning can be performed injection into the eardrum of an antibiotic considered ototoxic, especially gentamicin, which is absorbed in the inner ear and vestibular injures cells (balance), so the patient would present vertigo; however the risk with this treatment in some cases, hearing loss is greater.

surgical treatment

Patients who do not respond to medical treatment and administration of intratympanic gentamicin may require surgery, once again, there are specific indications to reach this point, and risks and benefits.

Forecast

Meniere's disease is characterized by periods of exacerbations and remissions over the years, making unpredictable behavior, ie, there are periods when the patient is without symptoms. Studies show that after 10-20 years episodes of vertigo refer in most patients and decreased hearing loss stabilizes at moderate to severe.

The initial manifestation is variable, it may be vertigo or hearing loss, but a period of 1 year from the start the classic syndrome (vertigo, fluctuating hearing loss, tinnitus and ear fullness) is.

Meniere's disease is unilateral, but can occur in the other ear up to 25-45% of patients.

Otolaringology