Perilymphatic fistula associating with cochleovestibular and autonomic nervous system disorders

Perilymphatic fistula (PLF) is a frequent diagnosis, mainly in women and in the left ear. Cochlear and vestibular symptoms may be discrete in some patients while symptoms resulting from disorders of the parasympathetic nervous system are major in most cases. Some newly developed clinical tests are pathognomonic of a PLF. The difficulty is that symptoms and test results fluctuate indicating that the leakage of perilymph is intermittent. A surgical treatment is needed only for a few disabling PLFs. Unfortunately, recurrences are not rare.