New approaches to the management of peripheral vertigo: efficacy and safety of two calcium antagonists in a 12-week, multinational, double-blind study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of one 30-mg nimodipine oral tablet taken three times per day (one tablet with breakfast, one with lunch, and one with dinner) or one 150-mg cinnarizine verum oral capsule taken once each day with dinner for 12 weeks. STUDY DESIGN: Comparative in a double-blind, multinational pilot study. SETTING: Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: A total of 221 patients met the study criteria; of that total, 181 adult patients completed the study, including 135 women and 46 men whose ages ranged from 20 to 80 years. INTERVENTIONS: Two calcium antagonists were used to treat vertigo (nimodipine, 89 patients; cinnarizine, 92 patients), and all patients were maintained on the same dosage regimen until they completed 12 weeks of treatment. Patients were evaluated at 2-and 4-week intervals; an additional evaluation was made at Week 14 to determine vertigo recurrence in the posttreatment period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The response was evaluated by using the vertigo severity index, a count of vertigo episodes in a given time period. Each episode is weighted according to its intensity. RESULTS: Nimodipine treatment decreased the incidence of moderate vertigo episodes by 78.8% and decreased severe vertigo episodes by 85.0%. Cinnarizine treatment decreased the incidence of moderate vertigo episodes by 65.8% and decreased severe vertigo episodes by 89.8%. Nimodipine and cinnarizine exhibited similar safety profiles. Only two patients withdrew from the study because of adverse events possibly related to the study drug. One patient withdrew from the cinnarizine group because of headache, and one patient withdrew from the nimodipine group because of lipothymia. CONCLUSION: These data confirm the marked efficacy of both nimodipine and cinnarizine in the treatment of vestibular vertigo.

Estudio de la función tubaria en tímpanos indemnes / Study of tubal function in healthy tympanus

La prueba de Honjo, descrita en 1980, se utiliza para determinar alteraciones funcionales de la función de la trompa de Eustaquio en un oído con la membrana timpánica intacta. Esta técnica registra los cambios de complianza durante la maniobra de Valsalva y de deglución. Los autores realizaron esta prueba en 21 personas adultas normales y en todas ellas se mostró una función tubaria normal. También la prueba se realizó en 118 pacientes que se quejaban de hipoacusia, tinnitus o otalgia, con examen otoscópico, audiometría e impedanciometría normales. Los autores encontraron, en este grupo de pacientes, diferentes tipos de patrones que corresponden a una mala función parcial, algunos de ellos no corresponden a los descritos por Honjo. El 63%de estos pacientes mostraron algún grado de mala función tubaria. De éstos, 5,5%tenían una mala función total, 47%mostraron una mala función parcial y 10,5%una trompa patulosa