Description of unilateral and bilateral Ménière's disease subgroups in a Chilean cohort

Abstract

Introduction: Ménière’s disease is characterized by recurrent episodes of vertigo, sen­sorineural hearing loss, aural fullness and tinnitus. Recently, different subtypes of the disease have been identified according to phenotype, which could contribute to a bet­ter understanding of its etiology and a more individualized therapeutic approach. Objective: To describe the distribution of subgroups of Ménière’s disease in a Chilean co­hort, based on the classification scheme introduced by the Ménière Disease Consortium. Material and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed. Patients with definite Ménière’s disease were selected according to the criteria of the Barany Society, and subclassified into five subgroups of unilateral disease, and bilateral disease. They complet­ed a medical survey and a hearing assessment (audiometry and impedance audiometry). Results: Seventy-nine patients were identified. There were 64 cases of unilateral Ménière’s disease: 32.8% were type 1, 6.3% type 2, 12.5% type 3, 40.6% type 4 and 7.8% type 5. Fifteen cases of bilateral disease were found: 35.7% were type 1, 21.4% type 2, 21.4% type 3, 14.3% type 4 and 7.1% type 5. Conclusion: The distribution of bilateral Ménière’s sub­types was similar to that reported in the European population. For unilateral disease, the main difference was the predominance of the migraine-associated subtype over the classic sporadic subtype.