Abstract
In order to study the influence of hormonal function upon the onset and course of Ménière's syndrome, the authors made observations on 22 cases, before, during and after the pregnancy and obtained the following results.
1. Concerning the typical or true Ménières disease, a marked improvement or disappearance of vertiginous attacks was usually observed during the course of pregnancy. In some cases the attacks reappeared just after delivery, while in other cases the time of recurrence was several months or years after delivery.
2. In two cases the hearing acuities were severely damaged just before the deliveries. One case showed bilateral deafness prior to pregnancy and the other case had suffered from unilateral inner ear deafness of sudden onset from several years prior and this time the opposite inner ear was suddenly affected. Both cases suffered from severe emesis during the course of pregnancy.
3. There were five cases in which the syndrome appeared for the first time during the course of pregnancy. They didn't have the typical clinical figures of Ménière's disease and recurrences after delivery were rather rare.
4. There were no difficult deliveries.
5. According to the results of these observations, the authors discussed the mechanism of hormonal influences upon the inner ear and also the possibility of hormonal therapy of Ménières syndrome.
