[Ménière's disease in the aged]

Twenty-one patients with Ménière's disease over the age of seventy years were classified into two groups. Group I: Eleven patients who had their first vertiginous attack after the age of sixty-nine (nine males, two females). Group II: Ten patients who had a long history of Ménière's disease and had been followed until the age of 72 to 79 years of age (seven males, three females). In Group I there were repeated attacks of vertigo accompanied by fluctuations in hearing in the low and middle tone range, though not so severe or frequent as in the typical active stage of Ménière's disease in younger patients. Most patients in this group were still working as managers of a company or institution. Other patients had been taking care of a sick spouse for several years. In Group II, the patients rarely experienced severe vertiginous attacks, however, hearing became rapidly impaired in most cases after they reached around 70 years of age. Progression of their hearing impairment was so severe that it was considered beyond the loss of acoustic function attributable to physiological aging. The importance of Ménière's disease among the aged is increasing as a result of the rapid increase in the aged population. Based on long-term observations of Ménière's disease, we have concluded that there are at least two clinically different types of disease in the aged, then especially age of onset and the duration of the disease of the each patient must be heeded.