Identifying Predictors of Treatment Response in Meniere's Disease: A Clinical Severity Staging System

Abstract

ObjectiveIdentify clinically important factors associated with conservative treatment response in Meniere's disease and incorporate these factors into a composite clinical severity staging system.Study DesignRetrospective cohort.SettingTertiary academic medical center.MethodsAdult patients newly diagnosed with Meniere's disease between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2019 were eligible. Patients with previous treatment for Meniere's disease, prior otologic surgery, or a lack of follow‐up data were excluded. Treatment‐responsive patients were managed with only conservative therapies (eg, dietary modifications, diuretics) and unresponsive patients underwent more intensive therapies (eg, intratympanic procedures, surgical interventions).ResultsOf 78 patients included in the study, 49 (63%) were responsive to conservative therapies and 29 (37%) were not. Responsive patients had higher proportions of no or mild vertigo (24%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.1%–45.8%) and none or mild comorbidity (27%, 95% CI: 9.2%–44.7%) and a lower proportion of hearing loss (19%, 95% CI: 5.6%–32.4%) compared to unresponsive patients. Conjunctive consolidation of these 3 factors was performed to develop a three‐stage system with a treatment response gradient ranging from 100% to 64% to 18% for stage 1 (n = 11), stage 2 (n = 56), and stage 3 (n = 11), respectively.ConclusionsThis study identified decreased vertigo severity, reduced comorbidity burden, and absence of hearing loss as factors associated with conservative treatment response in Meniere's disease. A composite clinical severity staging system including these 3 factors can be used to optimize treatment selection and promote patient‐centered management of Meniere's disease.