Abstract
Vertigo, or the symptom of an hallucination of motion, is usually caused by disorders of the inner ear. Buried in the bone of the otic capsule, the inner ear is the most difficult human sensory organ to image and investigate. As an inner ear disorder, Meniere's disease (MD) is characterised as recurrent vertiginous attacks, fluctuating hearing loss which can be progressive, tinnitus and aural fullness. Post-mortem studies, and now MRI inner ear imaging, show an excess of endolymph or endolymphatic hydrops (ELH) which has been assumed to usually commence in the cochlea. However, the cause of the initial hydrops is still debated. This paper reflects on the research published in & Omacr;tautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand. There is evidence from post-mortem studies, electrophysiological test, and some inner ear imaging that endolymphatic obstruction from clumps of detached saccular otoconia may be a cause of MD.