Abstract

Objective: Meniere disease is a disorder defined with vertigo and disequilibrium attacks and followed by a considerable normal equilibrium until to the next vertigo attack. The frequency of these attacks changes not only patient to patient but also in particular patient himself/herself in varying degree. Although there are studies about intratympanic corticosteroid injection treatment for the disease in the literature, the long-term efficacy of this minimally invasive treatment modality is obscure regarding with this issue. In this study, we aimed to verify long-term results in the use of intratympanic dexamethasone in patients with Meniere disease.
Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study that was performed in a tertiary referral center in which eleven patients with vertigo due to Meniere disease were evaluated. Intratympanic dexamethasone was infiltrated to diseased ear of these patients. The ratio between the number of vertigo episodes in the 6 months prior to treatment and the number of episodes in the six months between the 18th and 24th month after treatment (according to the norms of the American committee for the hearing and the equilibrium, 1995) were examined.
Results: All patients improved significantly. Treatment was repeated after one year in one of the patients.
Conclusion: Similarly with the published literature, the use of intratympanic dexamethasone may be useful to control vertigo due to Meniere disease to avoid or to be a prior step to other more invasive treatments.

Key words: Intratympanic Dexamethasone; Meniere Disease; Vertigo.