Screening for Menière's disease in the general population - the needle in the haystack.
CONCLUSIONS
Based on clinical history alone, 98.4% of the population with vestibular vertigo do not qualify for a diagnosis of Menière's disease (MD). Although frequent in dizziness clinics, MD is rare in the general population.


OBJECTIVE
To narrow down the prevalence of MD in the general population.


METHODS
A representative sample adult population sample (n=4869) was screened for moderate or severe dizziness/vertigo. Subsequently, 1003 participants completed a validated neurotologic telephone interview on vestibular vertigo (VV). Prevalence of MD was determined by stepwise application of clinical criteria according to the AAO (1995): (1) at least two vertigo attacks of > or =20 min duration, (2) unilateral hearing loss, and (3) accompanying cochlear symptoms.


RESULTS
Lifetime prevalence of VV was 7.4%. Of 243 participants with VV, 51 (21%) had recurrent vertigo lasting > or =20 min. Of these, nine reported unilateral hearing loss, and four had accompanying cochlear symptoms (1.6% of VV patients, population prevalence 0.12%).
Radtke
A
A
Neurologische Klinik, Charité, Berlin, Germany. andre.radtke@charite.de
von Brevern
M
M
Feldmann
M
M
Lezius
F
F
Ziese
T
T
Lempert
T
T
Neuhauser
H
H
D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D046088:Hearing Loss, Unilateral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008487:Medical History Taking; D008575:Meniere Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology