Among patients wait-listed for nonablative surgery, most were free of vertigo attacks without undergoing surgery
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Dec. 5, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Most patients with intractable Meniere disease (MD) experience symptom relief over time, according to a study published online Oct. 23 in Frontiers in Neurology.
F.R. Gerritsen, from Haga Hospital in The Hague, Netherlands, and colleagues described the evolution of vertigo attacks among patients with intractable MD in whom surgery was considered in a retrospective cohort study. Patients with definite unilateral MD and persisting vertigo attacks despite intratympanic steroid injection treatment were included in the study. All patients had been wait-listed for participation in a trial examining nonablative surgery; they were wait-listed between June 2016 and June 2021. To assess the evolution of the vertigo attacks, their data were collected in September 2022.
The analysis included 35 patients; 25 (71 percent) declined surgery. The researchers found that 21 of the 33 patients (64 percent) with complete information on vertigo attacks were free of vertigo attacks on data collection after a median disease duration of 5.3 years. The duration of disease was longer for patients who did versus those who did not undergo surgery.
“The current population was thought to suffer intractable disease, and yet most patients experienced relieve of symptoms in just over one year,” the authors write. “Knowledge of the generally benign evolution of MD may be of value for patients and clinicians when weighing treatment options.”
One author was employed by The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine.
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