How to differentiate cervical vertigo from Meniere’s syndrome?

  Meniere’s syndrome presents with recurrent episodes of rotational vertigo, sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus and a feeling of fullness in the ear. There is no vertigo between episodes. The Chinese Academy of Otolaryngology established the diagnosis of Meniere’s disease in October 1996 based on: (1) Recurrent episodes of rotational vertigo lasting from 20 minutes to several hours, with at least two episodes. It is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and balance disturbance. There is no loss of consciousness. May be accompanied by horizontal or horizontal rotational nystagmus; (2) Sensorineural hearing loss on at least one pure tone audiometry. Early low-frequency hearing loss with fluctuating hearing and progressive hearing loss with progressive disease. (3) Tinnitus is intermittent or persistent, and vertigo varies mostly before and after the onset of vertigo; (4) There may be a sense of ear fullness; (5) Exclude vertigo caused by other diseases, such as positional vertigo, vestibular neuritis, drug intoxication vertigo, sudden deafness with vertigo, vertigo caused by insufficient blood supply to the vertebral basilar artery and intracranial occupational lesions.  The diagnostic criteria for transient ischemic vertigo of the vertebral basilar artery (i.e., cervical vertigo) published by the NIH in 1990 are: (1) motor deficits, left and/or right lower upper extremity and facial weakness, paresthesia, or clumsiness of movement; (2) sensory deficits, left, right, or bilateral sensory loss, numbness, or abnormal sensation; (3) loss of one or both visual fields, or blurred vision; (4) balance deficits, vertigo (5) sudden onset of symptoms, usually lasting 2 to 15 minutes and resolving within 24 hours, leaving a nerve deficit; in addition, the attacks of cervical vertigo are related to neck movements and certain head positions, and are still mostly accompanied by headache, with fewer cochlear symptoms than in Meniere’s disease.  In summary, a simple distinction can be made by the length of the attack, whether it is related to the neck position, and whether there are ear symptoms to identify it, but the final diagnosis needs to be made by a doctor at the hospital.