Similarity of vertigo attacks due to Meniere's disease and benign recurrent vertigo, both with and without migraine

Abstract

Conclusion: Vertigo attacks in patients with benign recurrent vertigo (BRV) cannot be distinguished from those in patients with Meniere's disease on the basis of duration, triggers or associated symptoms (other than auditory). A subset of BRV is associated with migraine. Objective: To investigate whether clinical features of vertigo attacks can distinguish patients with BRV from those with Meniere's disease and whether subtypes of BRV can be identified. Methods: A structured interview was used to analyze features in patients with BRV, i.e. those who have normal audiograms and caloric test results even though they have had recurrent vertigo (n = 63). A group of patients with definite Meniere's disease (n = 112) served as the comparison group. Results: Compared with the Meniere's disease group, patients with BRV had a female preponderance, earlier age of onset, and increased incidence of migraine headaches (IHS criteria). With regard to the vertigo attacks, duration tended to be shorter in patients with BRV but there was a large overlap in the duration of attacks between the two groups. Triggers (stress/emotional upset, fatigue, menstrual periods) and associated symptoms (imbalance, nausea and vomiting, headache, sensitivity to light) were not significantly different in the two groups.

Keywords::

• Vestibular
• audiovestibular testing
• benign paroxysmal vertigo
• vestibular migraine
• migrainous vertigo
• migraine-associated vertigo

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Gull-Britt Westin (Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm) and Anita Skei Landsem (St Olavs University Hospital, Trondheim) for conducting the structured interviews. Krister Brantberg received funding from Törnstrandska Fonden, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Krister Brantberg did the statistic analysis in co-operation with Jan Kovalski, Statistik och Datakonsult, Stockholm, Sweden.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.