Canalith repositioning procedures in treatment of 1240 patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

Objective To review positioning therapy results in 1240 patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo(BPPV).Methods 1240 cases of BPPV that were treated with particle repositioning maneuver and rolling maneuver therapy from December 1998 to September 2008 were retrospectively studied.Results Of the 1240 patients,500 were male and 740 female,with a mean age of 46.5 ± 2.3 years(5 to 92 years) old,Lesion was located in the posterior semicircular canal in 1149 patients(71.01%),horizontal semicireular canal in 69 patients(20.32%),bilateral posterior semicircular canal in 13 patients(2.97%),bilateral horizontal semicircular canal in 17 patients(2.97%),and combined posterior and horizontal semicircular canals in 13 patients(2.97%).Idiopathic BPPV was considered in 968 patients,and secondary BPPV in the rest patients.Possible causes included head trauma,infection,various otologic diseases,hypertension,diabetes,operation,oral calcium pills,etc.When treated with Particlere Positioning maneuver,the initial suceess rate was 84.3%(86.2% or 991/1149 for posterior semicircular canal,81.2% or 56/69 for horizontal semicircular canal and 68.2% or 15/22 for combined semicircular canal).At one year following up,our total success rate reached 98.3% with a 18.5% recurrence rate.Conclusion Our data suggest that canalith repositioning provides a safe and effective treatment in the majority of patients with BPPV,and is in fact responsible for resolution of symptoms at the early time of BPPV.