Bilateral Vestibular Hypofunction

In this episode of the ICU Podcast we’re going to talk about what happens when we lose function in our inner ear completely, when the vestibular system on both your right and your left sides is not working. Bilateral vestibular loss, also called hypofunction, can be devastating. It results in severe difficulty maintaining balance, especially when walking in the dark or on uneven surfaces, and a decrease in your ability to see clearly when moving your head. This can lead to an increased risk of falling, blurry vision, dizziness, imbalance, and can eventually lead to other types of physical deconditioning. How does a person cope when their internal gyroscope is essentially turned off, and what medical miracles are available to help them?

Our guests today are Dr. Charley Della Santina, one of the foremost researchers in this area, and Donna McKinney, a vestibular patient with bilateral vestibular loss.

Guest Bios
Dr. Charles Della Santina, MD, PhD
Dr. Charley Della Santina specializes in surgery for treatment of otosclerosis, acoustic neuroma, and other problems that cause hearing loss or abnormal vestibular sensation. He is a neurophysiologist with PhDs in biomedical and electrical engineering. Dr. Della Santina founded and directs the Johns Hopkins Vestibular NeuroEngineering Lab. His research group focuses on developing a vestibular implant to treat chronic unsteadiness and oscillopsia caused by gentamicin ototoxicity and other causes of bilateral vestibular hypofunction.

Donna McKinney
Donna McKinney is a mom of three and a proud grandma. Since her diagnosis of bilateral vestibular loss in 2014 she has had to retire from her physically active career as a youth and senior fitness director. She has become a certified health coach and a diabetes prevention coach and is hoping to return to work on a part-time basis. 

Donna enjoys cooking, spending time with her family, and going for long rides and day trips with her partner, Alec, who has been by her side through every dizzying step of this diagnosis. 

In May of last year Donna received the multichannel vestibular implant as part of a study at Johns Hopkins University.