[Meniere's disease. The clinical effect of gentamicin treatment].

In patients with Menière's disease attacks of vertigo can be invalidating. We have tested the effect of instillation of gentamycin in the middle ear to minimize or stop the attacks of vertigo. The results of a prospective investigation of 14 patients with Menière's disease treated with gentamycin in the period from 1993 to 1996 are presented. The patients were followed up to 53 months after the treatment and a telephone follow-up was performed. At the last follow-up nine out of 12 patients were free of attacks of vertigo. Two improved and one patient was unchanged. In two patients deafness developed in the treated ear, in the other patients the hearing was unchanged measured by speech reception threshold and discrimination loss. It is concluded that treatment of patients with Menière's disease by instillation of gentamycin into the middle ear does have a therapeutic effect. The treatment is simple and the effect of treatment is equal to other types of treatments. The risk of deafness in the treated ears stresses the importance of giving the patient sufficient information before treatment.