Treatment of vertebrobasilar insufficiency--associated vertigo with a fixed combination of cinnarizine and dimenhydrinate.

Abstract

Thirty-seven patients suffering from vertigo associated with vertebrobasilar insufficiency participated in our prospective, single-center, double-blind, comparative study. Patients were randomly allocated to treatment with placebo; betahistine (12 mg betahistine dimesylate, one tablet three times daily); or the fixed combination of 20 mg cinnarizine and 40 mg dimenhydrinate (one tablet three times daily) for 4 weeks. The primary efficacy end point was the decrease of the mean vertigo score (S(M)), which was based on the patients' assessments of 12 individual vertigo symptoms after 4 weeks of treatment. Patients treated with the fixed combination showed significantly greater reductions of S(M) as compared to patients receiving placebo (p < .001) or the reference therapy betahistine (p < .01). The vestibulospinal parameter lateral sway (Unterberger's test) improved to a significantly greater extent in patients taking the fixed combination as compared to those receiving placebo (p < .001). No serious adverse event was reported in any therapy group. The tolerability of the fixed combination was judged as very good or good by 91% (betahistine, 73%; placebo, 82%). In conclusion, the fixed combination proved to be statistically more effective than the common antivertiginous drug betahistine in reducing vertebrobasilar insufficiency-associated vertigo symptoms.

• Authors: Volker Otto, Bernhard Fischer, Mario Schwarz, Wolfgang Baumann, Rudolf Preibisch-Effenberger
• Journal: The international tinnitus journal (Int Tinnitus J) Vol. 14 Issue 1 Pg. 57-67 ( 2008) ISSN: 0946-5448 [Print] United States
• PMID: 18616088 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Phase III, Comparative Study, Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial)

Chemical References

• Calcium Channel Blockers
• Drug Combinations
• Histamine H1 Antagonists
• Vasodilator Agents
• Cinnarizine
• Dimenhydrinate
• Betahistine

Topics

• Adult
• Betahistine (therapeutic use)
• Calcium Channel Blockers (therapeutic use)
• Cinnarizine (therapeutic use)
• Dimenhydrinate (therapeutic use)
• Double-Blind Method
• Drug Combinations
• Female
• Histamine H1 Antagonists (therapeutic use)
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Prospective Studies
• Vasodilator Agents (therapeutic use)
• Vertebrobasilar Insufficiency (drug therapy)
• Vertigo (drug therapy, etiology)
• Vestibular Function Tests