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 system2. Physiology of central pathways 3. Neurotransmitters in the vestibular system4. Multi-sensory integration in balance control5. The epidemiology of dizziness and vertigo6. Vestibular symptoms and history taking7. Bedside examination8. Eye movements in vestibular disorders9. The caloric irrigation test10. Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials11. Audiometry and other hearing tests12. Rotational testing13. An overview of vestibular rehabilitation14. Principles of vestibular pharmacotherapy15. Acute unilateral loss of vestibular function16. Chronic unilateral vestibular loss17. Bilateral vestibulopathy18. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and its variants19. Menière’s disease20. Otologic disorders causing dizziness including surgery for vestibular disorders21. Post-traumatic dizziness and vertigo22. Vestibular migraine23. Ischemic syndromes causing dizziness and vertigo24. Functional and psychiatric vestibular disorders25. Vertigo and dizziness in children26. The conundrum of cervicogenic dizziness27. Motion sickness28. Mal de debarquement syndrome