No change seen in frequency of recurrent vertigo attacks over time

Among people with benign recurrent vertigo (BRV), Meniere disease (MD), or vestibular migraine (VM) who have persistent vertigo attacks, there is no change in attack frequency over time, according to a study published online Aug. 11 in Audiology and Neurotology.

Maarten C. Uijttewaal, from Gelre Hospitals in the Netherlands, and colleagues explored changes in the duration and trigger factors of vertigo attacks in 117 patients with BRV, MD, or VM followed for three years.

The researchers found that 48.7 percent of patients kept reporting vertigo attacks at one or more follow-ups. Compared with baseline, no diagnosis groups showed significant shortening of attack duration during follow-up. Reports of stress and fatigue as triggers for attacks differed significantly between the three groups at baseline (stress: BRV, 40.9 percent; MD, 62.8 percent; VM, 76.5 percent; P = 0.005; fatigue: BRV, 31.0 percent; MD, 48.8 percent; VM, 68.8 percent; P = 0.003).

A consistent reduction in stress and fatigue as triggers was seen in the VM group until the 24- and 30-month follow-up measurements, respectively (odds ratios [ORs], 0.15 to 0.33; P < 0.05). A consistent reduction of head movements as a trigger was seen in the MD group at the 24-month measurement onward (ORs, 0.07 to 0.11; P < 0.05).

"Our findings suggest that despite the decrease in the number of patients still experiencing vertigo attacks in all three diagnosis groups, no shortening of the duration of the attacks was observed in patients who continued to have attacks during the three-year follow-up," the authors write.

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