Seventeen patients with Meniere's disease underwent selective vestibular nerve section after suboccipital craniotomy. All were relieved completely of vertigo. Tinnitus was relieved in none, and signs of chronic retrocochlear eighth nerve involvement persisted in 3 of 12 patients tested. Cochlear loss was progressive in seven patients. Therefore, the bothersome symptom of vertigo was uniformly cured, whereas tinnitus and hearing loss were not improved by this procedure and tended to follow the natural course of the disease.
When compared with results of other operative procedures on the inner ear for treatment of Meniere's disease presently available, selective vestibular nerve section after suboccipital craniotomy remains the most reliable and least-complicated operative method for relief of vertigo.