Tumarkin otolithic crisis is an abrupt attack of falling without loss of consciousness because of peripheral vestibular disorders. It occurs without warning in patients with late stage or end-stage of Meniere’s disease. It is an otologic emergency due to the risk of fall down injury, and has been treated with labyrinthectomy, vestibular neurectomy, and intratympanic gentamicin injection. Many reports have reported the efficacy of intratympanic injection of gentamicin (ITIG) as chemical ablation. We report a 58-year-old man with Tumarkin otolothic crisis from Meniere’s disease who presented with sudden drop attack while driving a taxi. He has suffered from recurrent rotatory vertigo accompanied by fluctuating hearing loss and tinnitus in the right ear for years. Despite medical treatment over the next 2 months, he experienced three more sudden drop attacks. He got chemical ablation with ITIG and remains without sudden drop attack until fourteen months later. Tumarkin otolithic crisis is a life-threatening otologic emergency. What we have experienced in this case is that for the safety and quality of life of the patient who suffers from Tumarkin otolithic crisis, aggressive vestibular function ablation with high dose ITIG is necessary.
Turmarkin otolithic crisis is a rare feature of Meniere’s disease. It shows sudden
falling to the ground with no warning sign. It is an otologic emergency because
of the risk of falling, and it has traditionally been treated with labyrinthectomy
or vestibular neurectomy. We experienced a 49-year-old male suffering from
recurrent drop attack, and found that he had hearing loss, tinnitus or recurrent
vertigo on his left ear, and could make a diagnosis him as Tumarkin otolithic
crisis. We have performed the endolymphatic sac decompression, considering the
hearing preservation and therapeutic opinion of patients. Two years after surgery,
he showed intermittent, mild dizzy symptoms, without further drop attack.
Therefore, we report our clinical experience with a brief review of literature.
Tumarkin otolithic crisis is an unusual manifestation of Meniere’s disease that shows sudden falling without loss of consciousness. As a kind of life-threatening otologic emergency due to high risk of injury, the surgical ablation therapy rather than the medical one is preferred. Intratympanic injection of gentamicin (ITIG) is being introduced as a treatment by chemical ablation of vestibular function. The authors report a case of life-threatening Tumarkin otolithic crisis in 76-year-old female, after onset of Meniere’s disease, failed to treat with multiple application of ITIG, and successfully eradicated the symptom with total labyrinthectomy after then. Also we introduce her clinical feature of Tumarkin otolithic crisis. A 76-year-old female visited clinic suffering from recurrent rotatory vertigo accompanied with fluctuating hearing loss and tinnitus on her left ear, and diagnosis of Meniere’s disease was made. Four months after medical treatment, the patient experienced sudden drop attack during walking on the street without any prodromes, and her right wrist and skull base were fractured as a result. She denied to got surgery and ITIG was applied. During 1 year after initial drop attack, she experienced 7 times of severe drop attack and 4 times of ITIG, and finally she accepted to get surgery. The patient no longer suffered from drop attack after total labyrinthectomy later. Tumarkin otolithic crisis is an otologic emergency, may cause life-threatening falling. Our experience from this case is that vestibular ablation by surgical method is needed for safety and quality of life of patients.