Prognosis of Menière's disease by conservative treatment: retrospective study on the time course of the disease.

The incidence of Menière's disease was investigated in a total of 3222 patients with vertigo or dizziness who had visited Kitasato University Hospital during 1985-1991. Two hundred and fifty-one of the cases (7.8%) were found to suffer from Menière's disease and the male:female ratio was 1:1. Seventy cases of Menière's disease with complete records were classified into five groups, depending on the duration of the illness since its onset. Both ears were affected in 12 (17.1%) of the patients but in 4 (33.3%) of prolonged 12 patients having more than 15 years after the onset. All 70 patients had been treated conservatively, except for 3 who had undergone surgery. Frequency of vertiginous attacks and hearing impairment during the last year in each group were retrospectively compared with those of the other groups. No vertiginous attacks were experienced in 13 (24.1%) cases. The average number of vertigo attacks during the last year was 4.5 per year in 49 cases. Adequate therapy is desirable within one year after the onset of Menière's disease: the results showed the frequency of vertiginous attacks to be lowest and hearing levels to be best in the first group who were treated less than one year after the onset, in comparison with the other prolonged cases.