What is Meniere’s syndrome

  Meniere’s syndrome, now known as Meniere’s disease, is an inner ear disorder with idiopathic membranous vagus fluid accumulation that presents with recurrent episodes of rotational vertigo, fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus and/or a feeling of fullness in the ear.  The human ear is divided into the outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear. There is a physiological structure in the inner ear called the membranous vagus, which is the location of the sound receptors and balance receptors in the human ear. The membrane labyrinth is filled with endolymphatic fluid and maintains homeostasis through intrinsic secretion, absorption and flow. The mechanism of Meniere’s disease is an imbalance in the production and absorption of endolymph due to various causes, resulting in a number of symptoms. The typical symptoms are as follows: (1) Recurrent sudden onset of rotational vertigo: Patients can feel themselves or surrounding objects rotating in a certain direction and plane, or feel shaking, lifting, floating; vertigo is accompanied by nausea, vomiting, pallor, cold sweat and other symptoms; it mostly intensifies when opening the eyes and turning the head, and usually lasts for a short time, mostly 20 minutes to several hours.  (2) Fluctuating hearing loss: hearing loss is felt at the same time as or after vertigo, and it can mostly return to normal after the attack in the early stage of the disease, but as the number of attacks increases, the hearing loss gradually becomes irreversible, and the symptoms appear unilaterally in the attack period. The disease can involve one ear or both ears, and the onset of the disease can be several months or years apart.  (3) Tinnitus: It appears before the onset of vertigo and starts as a persistent low-pitched sound of blowing wind or running water, and then changes to a high-pitched sound of cicadas, whistles or sirens. Initially, it appears only in the attack period or is heavier, disappears in the interval or is lighter, and becomes persistent in the later period.  (4) Ear fullness: Patients may feel a feeling of fullness, heaviness or pressure in the affected ear or head during the disease attack, and sometimes they may feel a burning pain around the ear.  There are many causes of Ménière’s disease, such as endolymphatic duct obstruction and endolymphatic absorption disorder, immune stimulation, inner ear ischemia, viral infection, genetic factors, etc. It can be caused by a single factor or multiple causes at the same time, and prompt medical consultation is required when the above symptoms appear.