New approaches to the management of peripheral vertigo: efficacy and safety of two calcium antagonists in a 12-week, multinational, double-blind study.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of one 30-mg nimodipine oral tablet taken three times per day (one tablet with breakfast, one with lunch, and one with dinner) or one 150-mg cinnarizine verum oral capsule taken once each day with dinner for 12 weeks.

STUDY DESIGN:

Comparative in a double-blind, multinational pilot study.

SETTING:

Tertiary referral center.

PATIENTS:

A total of 221 patients met the study criteria; of that total, 181 adult patients completed the study, including 135 women and 46 men whose ages ranged from 20 to 80 years.

INTERVENTIONS:

Two calcium antagonists were used to treat vertigo (nimodipine, 89 patients; cinnarizine, 92 patients), and all patients were maintained on the same dosage regimen until they completed 12 weeks of treatment. Patients were evaluated at 2-and 4-week intervals; an additional evaluation was made at Week 14 to determine vertigo recurrence in the posttreatment period.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:

The response was evaluated by using the vertigo severity index, a count of vertigo episodes in a given time period. Each episode is weighted according to its intensity.

RESULTS:

Nimodipine treatment decreased the incidence of moderate vertigo episodes by 78.8% and decreased severe vertigo episodes by 85.0%. Cinnarizine treatment decreased the incidence of moderate vertigo episodes by 65.8% and decreased severe vertigo episodes by 89.8%. Nimodipine and cinnarizine exhibited similar safety profiles. Only two patients withdrew from the study because of adverse events possibly related to the study drug. One patient withdrew from the cinnarizine group because of headache, and one patient withdrew from the nimodipine group because of lipothymia.

CONCLUSION:

These data confirm the marked efficacy of both nimodipine and cinnarizine in the treatment of vestibular vertigo.

• Authors: Carlo Pane Pianese, Lourdes Olivia Vales Hidalgo, Ramón Hinojosa González, Cecilia Esteinou Madrid, Jorge Enrique Cruz Ponce, Alberto Mañé Ramírez, Luis Martínez Morán, José Enrique Poó Arenas, Arturo Torres y Gutiérrez Rubio, Jorge Olguin Uribe, José Abiuso, Enrique Hanuch, Juan Alegría, Claudio Volpi, Renate Flaskamp, Augusto Peñaranda Sanjuán, Juan Manuel García Gómez, Jaime Hernández, Alvaro Pedraza, Diana Quijano, Carolina Martínez, Juan Ramón Castañeda, Oscar Jorge Cardeñosa Guerra, G Valencia F
• Journal: Otology & neurotology : official publication of the American Otological Society, American Neurotology Society [and] European Academy of Otology and Neurotology (Otol Neurotol) Vol. 23 Issue 3 Pg. 357-63 (May 2002) ISSN: 1531-7129 [Print] United States
• PMID: 11981396 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Journal Article, Multicenter Study, Randomized Controlled Trial)

Chemical References

• Calcium Channel Blockers
• Cinnarizine
• Nimodipine

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Calcium Channel Blockers (administration & dosage, adverse effects, therapeutic use)
• Cinnarizine (administration & dosage, adverse effects, therapeutic use)
• Drug Administration Schedule
• Electronystagmography
• Female
• Humans
• International Cooperation
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Nimodipine (administration & dosage, adverse effects, therapeutic use)
• Pilot Projects
• Recurrence
• Severity of Illness Index
• Vertigo (drug therapy, physiopathology)