Vertigo secondary to hypotension: the relationship between therapeutic effects and hearing

Patients with vertebrobasilar insufficiency tend to develop transient, repeated vertigo. However, diagnostic criteria by which to definitively diagnose circulatory disturbance of the vertebrobasilar system have yet to be established. Thus, in order to determine such criteria the relationship between the therapeutic effects on clinical symptoms and hearing in 40 patients with vertigo secondary to hypotension were investigated in the present study. In most patients, vertigo was perceived as a floating or spinning sensation which occurred spontaneously or during positional changes and lasted for a short period of time without hearing disturbance. Audiometry revealed bilateral low-frequency hearing loss or a tendency to low-frequency hearing loss in all patients. Low-frequency hearing loss is an important audiometric indication of vertebrobasilar insufficiency. Such hearing loss is very responsive to therapeutic circulatory agents and is considered to be an index for the evaluation of the effects of treatment for vertebrobasilar insufficiency.