Neuro-Otology

Joseph Furman is a Professor in the Departments of Otolaryngology, Neurology, Bioengineering, and Physical Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh and director of the division of balance disorders at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. His education includes an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a residency in neurology at UCLA, and a fellowship in non-surgical otology at the University of Toronto. Dr. Furman’s area of expertise is vestibular function and balance disorders. Dr. Furman is a board certified neurologist, a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and a member of the American Neurological Association. Dr. Furman’s clinical activities include the evaluation of patients with dizziness and disequilibrium and consultation neurology. Dr. Furman’s research interests include balance in older persons, development of new tests of semicircular canal function, and functional imaging in balance disorders. Dr. Furman is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Vestibular Research. Thomas Lempert is Professor of Neurology at Charité University Hospital and Head of Neurology at Schlosspark-Klinik in Berlin, Germany. He spent most of his professional life at Charité University Hospital as a general neurologist and neuro-otologist. He learnt to treat dizzy patients and made his first steps in vestibular research at the University Hospital in Munich (Prof. Thomas Brandt) and later at the MRC Movement and Balance Unit in London (Prof. Adolfo Bronstein and Prof. Michael Gresty). He heads the Vestibular Migraine Group of the Classification Committee of the International Bárány Society.

1. Anatomy, physiology and physics of the peripheral vestibular system 2. Physiology of central pathways 3. Neurotransmitters in the vestibular system 4. Multi-sensory integration in balance control 5. The epidemiology of dizziness and vertigo 6. Vestibular symptoms and history taking 7. Bedside examination 8. Eye movements in vestibular disorders 9. The caloric irrigation test 10. Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials 11. Audiometry and other hearing tests 12. Rotational testing 13. An overview of vestibular rehabilitation 14. Principles of vestibular pharmacotherapy 15. Acute unilateral loss of vestibular function 16. Chronic unilateral vestibular loss 17. Bilateral vestibulopathy 18. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and its variants 19. Menière’s disease 20. Otologic disorders causing dizziness including surgery for vestibular disorders 21. Post-traumatic dizziness and vertigo 22. Vestibular migraine 23. Ischemic syndromes causing dizziness and vertigo 24. Functional and psychiatric vestibular disorders 25. Vertigo and dizziness in children 26. The conundrum of cervicogenic dizziness 27. Motion sickness 28. Mal de debarquement syndrome