Migraine and audiovestibular dysfunction: is there a correlation?
OBJECTIVE
To study the audiovestibular functions in cases of migraine with or without vertigo.


METHODS
This was a prospective study involving 50 cases of migraine who were divided into 2 groups: patients with vertigo and those without. All patients underwent a detailed otological and neurootological examination followed by full audiological and vestibular investigation including pure tone audiometry, speech reception threshold, speech discrimination score, tone decay, short increment sensitivity index, auditory brainstem-evoked responses, and electronystagmography (ENG).


RESULTS
Thirty-eight (76%) of 50 patients had vertigo on presentation, of which rotatory nonpositional vertigo (22/38) was the most common. Phonophobia was the most common auditory symptom (35/50, 70%) followed by tinnitus (25/50, 50%). Only 17 patients (34%) reported hearing loss, of whom only 7 had documented hearing loss on pure tone audiometry. However, the auditory brainstem-evoked responses of all these patients showed some abnormalities in the form of prolonged absolute latency or prolonged interwave peak latencies or both. Electronystagmography revealed canal paresis in 13 patients (26%), although there was no statistical difference between patients with or without vertigo on various electronystagmographic parameters.


CONCLUSIONS
Auditory brainstem-evoked response abnormalities may be the earliest indicator of impending auditory involvement in migraine.
Dash
Anil K
AK
Department of Otolaryngology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Panda
Naresh
N
Khandelwal
Gaurav
G
Lal
Vivek
V
Mann
Sherbaj S
SS
D000158:Acoustic Impedance Tests; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001302:Audiometry, Speech; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D004584:Electronystagmography / Q000379:methods; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011336:Probability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014717:Vertigo / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*