Lermoyez's syndrome. A follow-up study in 12 patients.

Abstract

Clinical studies were performed in 12 patients with the Lermoyez syndrome during a close follow-up of 2 to 31 years. The nature and temporal sequences of the symptoms of these patients are described. The incidence of Lermoyez's syndrome, as compared with Meniere's disease, is almost 18%. This is much higher than usually is assumed. In 6 out of 12 patients typical Meniere attacks were found besides their Lermoyez attacks. Almost every one of the 12 patients showed, besides the Lermoyez attacks, also hearing fluctuations without vertigo, and vertigo without hearing fluctuations. The type of vertigo was usually rotating, often with unsteadiness and in 3 patients dropping attacks were sometimes observed. The typical Lermoyez attack lasted several hours. The preceding hearing loss lasted for days to months. The hearing recovered after the attacks and remained stable for days to months. An improved hearing was noticed within some hours after the vertiginous attack in 9 out of 12 cases. Three patients noticed the hearing improvement already during the attack. In 8 out of 12 cases the disease became bilateral.