Epidemiology of Ménière’s Disease: Literature Review Epidemiologia da Doença de Ménière: Revisão da Literatura

Abstract

Ménière’s disease is a chronic pathology of the inner ear characterized by episodic vestibular symptoms associated with sensorineural hypoacusis, tinnitus and aural fullness. Having been described more than 150 years ago, by Prosper Ménière nowadays its epidemiology continues to be a great challenge for professionals trying better understand this disease. Since World War II several societies and study groups have tried to deepen the knowledge of this pathology, namely its prevalence and incidence. However, due to the difficulty of standardization of diagnostic criteria, these values present great variability.
With its onset in middle age, Ménière’s disease initially presents itself as a unilateral disease without tendency for greater expressiveness regarding laterality. Over the years, there is a clear trend toward bilateral Ménière’s disease, in which the time of contralateral ear involvement may vary from two months to more than twenty years. On the other hand, over the years, there was a reduction on the impact of the symptoms, namely through changes in lifestyle and medical or surgical treatment. The immune system, migraine, allergy and autonomic nervous system are also associated with Ménière’s disease. In general, it is agreed that there is a greater predominance of Ménière’s disease in the Caucasian race, as for gender, a slight predominance of female is reported in the vast majority of studies. Epidemiological and genomic evidence supports a genetic susceptibility.