Pedigrees of Six Ménière Families (Hietikko et al., 2014)

Purpose: This study compared clinical features, predisposing factors, and concomitant diseases between sporadic and familial Ménière’s disease (MD).

Method: Retrospective chart review and postal questionnaire were used. Participants were 250 definite patients with MD (sporadic, n = 149; familial, n = 101) who fulfilled the American Academy of Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (1995) criteria.

Results: On average, familial patients were affected 5.6 years earlier than sporadic patients, and they suffered from significantly longer spells of vertigo (p = .007). The prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (p = .002) and other autoimmune diseases (p = .046) was higher among the familial patients, who also had more migraine (p = .036) and hearing impairment (p = .002) in their families.

Conclusion: The clinical features of familial and sporadic MD are very similar in general, but some differences do exist. Familial MD patients are affected earlier and suffer from longer spells of vertigo.