Menière's syndrome and migraine: incidence in one family

Since 1992, we have applied a standard questionnaire to all our Meniere's syndrome patients. We ask about other family members affected by the symptoms and about the presence of the usual migraine symptom. Through this questionnaire we have identified a family that has some members affected by Meniere's syndrome alone, some others with associated migraine, and still others with migraine alone. Two members of this family started out with migraine and later in life developed Meniere's syndrome. The genetic transmission follows an autosomal dominant pattern for both Meniere's syndrome and migraine. We have interviewed and studied 19 affected persons from several generations of this family, who form the basis of this report. The possibility of a common autosomal dominant genetic determinant for Meniere's syndrome and migraine and its implications for the causation of Meniere's disease are discussed.