Ménière’s disease and its treatment
1. Big picture
Ménière’s disease is a peripheral vestibular disorder of the inner ear. For the exam, recognize the classic triad:
Recurrent spontaneous vertigo + fluctuating unilateral sensorineural hearing loss + tinnitus/aural fullness.
The key clinical difference from vestibular neuronitis and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the cochlear involvement: Ménière has hearing symptoms, while vestibular neuronitis and typical BPPV do not.
Current diagnostic criteria require recurrent vertigo attacks lasting 20 minutes to 12 hours for definite Ménière’s disease, plus audiometrically documented low- to mid-frequency sensorineural hearing loss and fluctuating aural symptoms in the affected ear.
Unlock the rest of this topic
Subscribe to Neurology for $10/month and unlock all 231 topics — full exam-structured notes, the State Exam questions integrated into every topic, and the downloadable Anki deck. Cancel anytime.
- ✓All 231 Neurology topics, exam-structured
- ✓State Exam questions in every topic
- ✓Downloadable Anki deck (.apkg)
- ✓Cancel anytime
Already subscribed? Sign in