Surgery of the endolymphatic sac.

The wide variation in reported success rates in endolymphatic sac surgery has been the subject of much controversy in literature. This series is a follow-up of additional cases done since 1976 that were previously reported with 55% relief of vertigo on relatively long-term follow-ups of 24 months to 10 years. This present series is an additional 30 endolymphatic shunts that were done since that time. This group of patients as a rule had their disease for a shorter period of time. It is interesting that the long-term relief of vertigo in this series is 70%. This is considerably better than the initial series of 66 patients previously reported. It is postulated that there are some benefits to earlier surgery in endolymphatic hydrops before the endolymphatic sac lumen becomes obliterated with fibrous tissue. It is always possible that the shorter follow-up period in this group of patients also adds to this statistical improvement.