Results of endolymphatic sac surgery for Ménière's disease

From 1976 to 1982, 72 patients with Ménière's disease had endolymphatic sac surgery. Sixty of the 72 were reviewed after a mean period of 33 months from operation; in these, sac surgery (regardless of type) provided abolition or improvement of vertigo in 75%, and 70% of these had hearing improvement or stabilization. Twelve had failure of vertigo control and required either labyrinthectomy or vestibular neurectomy, usually within one year of the first operation. In a smaller subgroup followed for a mean period of 51 months, vertigo control was achieved in 60% and hearing maintenance in 40%. Our data indicate that sac surgery provides good control of vertigo and maintenance of hearing for a period up to about three years, with a significant decline in benefit at about four or five years after operation.