Cryosurgical Treatment of Meniere's Disease

THIS PAPER represents a progress report regarding my present concepts of Meniere's disease and the surgical management of this problem. Specifically, I will review in detail what I consider to be a very promising procedure, namely, the cryosurgical treatment of Meniere's disease. Concepts of Meniere's Disease Meniere's disease is characterized by episodic vertigo, tinnitus, and fluctuating, but progressive, loss of hearing. The most distressing of these symptoms to the patient is the episodic vertigo. At present, my concepts of the inner ear as related to Meniere's disease are as follows: Meniere's Disease Results When There Is an Accumulation of Excess Endolymph Due Either to Overproduction or Underabsorption.—In 1871, Knapp 1 suggested that "glaucoma of the eye is perhaps a counterpart of Meniere's disease." Portmann2,3 concluded that the crisis of localized hypertension could be handled by decompression in a manner similar to the treatment of ocular glaucoma. Therefore, in 1927,