Popularizing Surgical Cures: Walter Dandy and the Vestibular Neurectomy for Menière's Disease at the Johns Hopkins Hospital

Abstract

Objectives To uncover the context that allowed for the vestibular neurectomy to grow in favor and practice at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in the early 20th century, and the reasons for its broad abandonment since. Methods The Walter E. Dandy (1905–1946) and Samuel J. Crowe collections (1905–1920) at the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives were reviewed, as well as the Samuel J. Crowe and Stacy Guild Temporal Bone Collection. Results Speculation on the etiology of Menière's disease (MD) has been countless, as have the medical and surgical interventions aimed at treating it. At the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Walter Dandy popularized the neurectomy for MD and performed 692 procedures from 1924 to 1946, believing it to be a curative therapy for vertigo. When he later modified the procedure from a total cranial nerve section to a partial vestibular neurectomy preserving auditory function, surgical candidacy expanded to include nearly any patient with vestibular symptoms. After his passing, trainees' attention shifted to traumatic injuries, likely influenced by WWII. This left the procedure scarcely used until third parties rekindled interest decades later. Conclusions Neurectomy as the preferential treatment for MD at the Johns Hopkins Hospital was not driven by pure scientific reasoning but was rather contingent on historical context and sponsorship by a prominent figure like Walter Dandy. Appreciation of MD's natural history has since curtailed the favorability of destructive procedures in preference for conservative management.