Clinical diagnosis of immune inner-ear disease

The purpose of this study was to develop a high-risk clinical profile of patients with autoimmune (immune-mediated) inner-ear disease. The records of 52 patients diagnosed over the past 5 years were reviewed. Age, sex, bilateral versus unilateral involvement, otologic symptoms, concomitant systemic immune disease, and presenting clinical diagnoses were recorded. The presenting diagnoses were Cogan's syndrome, Meniere's syndrome, Dandy's syndrome without hearing loss, or progressive sensorineural hearing loss without dizziness. Because Cogan's and Dandy's syndromes were relatively uncommon, the typical high-risk clinical profile was a middle-aged patient (often female) with bilateral, asymmetric, progressive sensorineural hearing loss, with or without dizziness, and occasional systemic immune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis. When a more common clinical diagnosis cannot be reached in suspicious patients, immune laboratory tests should be obtained and a trial of immunotherapy offered. Positive test results and beneficial response to therapy support a presumptive diagnosis of immune inner-ear disease.