KoreaMed, a service of the Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors (KAMJE), provides access to articles published in Korean medical, dental, nursing, nutrition and veterinary journals. KoreaMed records include links to full-text content in Synapse and publisher web sites.
The traumatic perilymphatic fistula (PLF) can cause hearing loss and disabling dizziness.
These symptoms can be recovered spontaneously or by surgical repair. However, even after surgical PLF repair, patients may suffer from recurrent vestibular symptoms. The mechanism of recurrent symptoms is not clear. We experienced two patients who complained of recurrent vertigo long after surgical PLF repair. Both patients had severe sensorineural hearing loss and vestibular loss after head trauma. In both cases, after surgical repair, dizziness was completely subsided. However, several years later, the disabling vertigo recurred in both cases. The symp-toms aggravated when position was changed. On the fistula test, the patients showed positive results. Surgical findings showed a fibrous band connection between the stapes and the tym-panic membrane. After stapedectomy, the symptoms subsided. We discuss the two cases in regards to the possible mechanism of recurrent vertigo after surgical PLF repair.