Christchurch clinician internationally recognised

Christchurch clinician internationally recognised

A Christchurch Otolaryngologist has been appointed to an international board dedicated to the work and research on inner ear disorders and Meniere’s disease.

Professor Jeremy Hornibrook is one of 15 clinicians from 13 countries around the world to have been selected to the board of the Prosper Meniere Society.

Based in the United States, the society promotes the academic distribution and discussion of research on the causes, diagnosis and treatment of Meniere’s disease and other inner ear disorders.

Professor Hornibrook says his appointment is recognition of the work he and his Christchurch colleagues have done on Meniere's disease and other inner ear disorders.

“For the past 18 years we have been doing an audio-logical diagnostic test for Meniere's disease to try to distinguish it from the other disorders,” Professor Hornibrook says.

Professor Hornibrook and a colleague are using MRI imaging and audio-logical testing to make the diagnosis of Meniere's disease more accurate and to distinguish it from other inner ear disorders such as sudden hearing loss as a result of other causes.

Professor Hornibrook says his surgical interest is mostly in the treatment of nose and sinus disorders. He has a Voice Clinic at Christchurch Hospital and his main research work is in the causes of recurrent vertigo, in particular Meniere's disease. Professor Hornibrook also teaches voice and vestibular medicine at the University of Canterbury.

Meniere's disease is an inner ear disorder that causes attacks of vertigo, usually in combination with hearing loss and other symptoms in the affected ear.

However, it can be easily confused with other disorders, which also cause vertigo attacks. Meniere’s disease and the society is named after the Frenchman Prosper Meniere (1799-1862).

ENDS

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