OBSERVATIONS ON THE ETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF MÉNIÈRE'S SYNDROME

Abstract

In the past fifteen years a great deal of thought and investigation has been directed toward the cause of Ménière's disease without any entirely satisfactory answer being forthcoming. Many theories have been propounded based on experimental and clinical studies, yet each, when put to the test of therapeutic response, has failed to give complete satisfaction even to its sponsors. The reason for this is, I believe, that always the search has been for one single cause which will suit all cases, whereas it may be that Ménière's disease is not a disease due to one cause but a syndrome which can be produced by at least two causes. I suggest that the characteristic syndrome is the result of a vasomotor disturbance which in one group of cases is allergic in origin and in the other is due to a vasospasm. This paper is an attempt to demonstrate the validity of