[Intra-tympanic gentamicin in the treatment of Ménière's disease: preliminary results ]

In the majority of patients suffering of Ménière's disease, medical treatment is sufficient to control symptoms, albeit, in a small number of them, the high intensity and frequency of vertigo spells makes necessary to adopt more aggressive measures, like intratympanic or general aminoglycoside administration, as well as surgical procedures. We present a prospective and longitudinal descriptive study with the results of intratympanic gentamycin in 24 patients labeled of Ménière's disease in the Otolaryngology Department of "Miguel Servet Hospital" in the last two years, after a follow-up period of more than a year, during which controlled medical treatment had been proved unsuccesfull. We go over the efficacy in terms of frequency of vertigo crisis, audition average, logoaudiometry and functional level. We obtained good results over vertigo control (types A and B of the objective criteria based in the improvement index after treatment) in 16 out of the 24 patients (66.6%), (13 were type A with total absence of crisis and 3 were type B) and an acceptable result (type C) in three of them (12.5.%). In the other five patients (20.83%) results were disappointing (types D and E) compelling to apply surgical treatment. We have tried to evaluate intratympanic gentamycin as an alternative treatment to more aggressive technics and we consider it to be a good option, with a low risk and scarce complications in the no pharmacologically controlled Ménière's disease patients.