The Distribution and Therapeutic Effectiveness of Clinical Unilateral Ménière's Disease Phenotypes

The first purpose of this study was to ascertain the distribution of unilateral Ménière's disease (MD) clinical subgroups in China and compare with the population reported in Europe and the United States. The second purpose was to investigate the effectiveness in different clinical phenotypes.

Participants were categorised into one of five subtypes using a previously reported classification scheme based on cluster analysis. The distribution and clinical characteristics were analysed and compared with the two cohorts reported in Europe and the United States. Participants were followed up to observe the therapeutic effectiveness over a 2-year period.

A total of 245 patients diagnosed with UMD were enrolled in the study, with 84 of these participants providing complete and detailed follow-up data. All of the unilateral MD patients were accurately classified: 58.0% were classic MD, 25.7% were delayed MD, 1.2% was familial MD, 12.7% were sporadic MD with migraine and 2.4% were autoimmune MD. Our findings revealed a significant difference in the distribution between this cohort and the European cohort. Follow-up assessments revealed worse vertigo control rate in the patients with migraine compared to the classical MD (50.0% vs. 82.6%, p = 0.034).

The distribution of unilateral MD subtypes in this Chinese population differs from that in the European population, and the therapeutic effectiveness varies across subtypes in this cohort. Our study highlights the importance of the clinical heterogeneity in unilateral MD, and further studies are needed to identify the optimal interventions for specific subgroups.