FAMILIAL VESTIBULOPATHY - A NEW DOMINANTLY INHERITED SYNDROME

Three patients who presented with episodic vertigo followed by gait im balance and oscillopsia had profound bilateral vestibular lass despite normal hearing. All had a parent with similar findings. The patients, their affected parent, and multiple other family members had a histor y of migraine headaches, although several of the latter had normal ves tibular function. Acetazolamide stopped or markedly decreased the freq uency of vertigo attacks in the three patients treated but had little effect on the chronic vestibular loss. This is the first report of a d ominantly inherited bilateral vestibulopathy associated with normal he aring.