Treatment of Menière's disease with betahistine: an open trial

Introduction: Menière's disease is a frequent inner ear disease which is clinically characterized by recurrent attacks of vertigo, hearing loss, tinnitus, aural fullness and nausea. During the natural course of the disease persistent deficits can develop. Besides spontaneous recovery Menière's disease manifests bilaterally in 15% of patients after 2 years and in 30–60% 10–20 years after disease onset. There is some evidence from previous studies that betahistine, an H1-agonist and H3-antagonist, in a dosage of 16mg three times daily (tid), may be an effective treatment of Menière's disease. However, no state-of-the-art studies have been conducted in this field. According to our experience, many patients profit only from a higher dosage of betahistine, namely 48mg tid.