Vestibular function tends to be preserved up to a point where hearing is nearly extinct. Hearing level correlates more closely with otolith function, especially that of the utricle, than with semicircular canal function.

The Ménière's patients experienced a worse quality of life than did healthy subjects. Vertigo mainly influenced the physical dimension, whereas tinnitus and hearing loss influenced the psychosocial dimension. Sense of coherence had an impact on the psychosocial dimension. The FLS was not sensitive enough to serve as an outcome of treatment results but needed to be complemented by quality of life instruments.

The purpose of this study was to describe quality-of-life aspects in a group of patients (n = 99) suffering from peripheral vestibular disorder, using three different self-rated instruments, the Vertigo Symptom Scale (VSS), the Vertigo Handicap Questionnaire (VHQ) and the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). The results showed that the type of dizziness that most influenced the quality-of-life aspects were: frequent short- or long-term dizziness, nausea, and the feeling that the ground was distant or as though the patient were walking on clouds. However, several of the impairments in daily life were neither related to the disease itself nor the demographic data. This verifies the necessity of investigating other factors such as personality and coping capacity. The results of this study also demonstrate the patients' need of psychosocial support. A comprehensive assessment and evaluation is important in order to identify each patient's needs.

Besides the persistent geotropic nystagmus, a zero zone was found with no nystagmus, beyond which the nystagmus changed direction when the head of the patient in supine position was gradually rotated from side to side. The zero zone was present when the head was turned slightly towards one side and is thought to represent a position where the affected cupula is aligned with the gravitational vertical. With the head bent forwards the nystagmus direction was to the non-affected side and when the head was bent backwards to the affected side.

Being exposed to emotional stress increases the risk of getting an attack of Menière's disease during the next hour, and the hazard period is possibly extended up to 3 hours.

Even though the gentamicin-treated patients had less vertigo, no difference in overall quality of life was found between the surgically treated and untreated patients. The sense of coherence seems to be an important factor in the patient's experience of quality of life. Quality of life instruments can measure both specific symptoms and related aspects on quality of life and may give complementary information to the AAO/HNS classification in evaluating the treatment of patients with Ménière's disease.

A 75-year-old man with incapacitating anterior canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) was relieved of symptoms following anterior semicircular canal occlusion using a transmastoid approach. The preoperative symptoms were similar to those of posterior canal BPPV. The preoperative findings on Dix-Hallpike's maneuver were a paroxysmal torsional nystagmus with a down-beating component that increased when the patient's gaze was directed towards the affected ear. The most provoking head movement for the vertigo/nystagmus was Dix-Hallpike's maneuver with the affected ear lowermost.

No abstract