MÉNIÈRE'S DISEASE

1 December 1954

journal article
other
Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in A.M.A. Archives of Neurology & Psychiatry

Vol. 72 (6) , 682-687
https://doi.org/10.1001/archneurpsyc.1954.02330060018003

Abstract

MÉNIÈRE¹in 1861 described the clinical entity of vertigo, tinnitus, and deafness and predicted that the internal ear would be proved to be the sole site from which these symptoms derived. Not until 1938 was this prediction verified, when Hallpike and Cairns²demonstrated histologically a dilatation of the membranous labyrinth in two cases of Ménière's disease. The two most effective operations for the vertigo in Ménière's disease are differential section of the eighth nerve and total destruction of the labyrinth. The purpose of the former is to preserve the hearing, whereas the labyrinth operation results in total deafness. These operations are designed for unilateral cases, but what if both sides are or become affected? Destruction of both labyrinths would be unthinkable; yet in 10% to 15% of cases the disease is already present or subsequently develops on the supposedly healthy side. The ideal operation for Ménière's disease should

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