Arenberg I K, Countryman L L, Bernstein L H, Shambaugh G E
International Meniere's Disease Research Institute (IMDRI), (Englewood), Colorado 80110.
Acta Otolaryngol Suppl. 1991;485:84-103. doi: 10.3109/00016489109128048.
The authors propose to correct the historical misimpression that Vincent van Gogh's medical problems resulted from epilepsy. Rather, the authors propose his main medical problem was Meniére's disease. The authors have reviewed the 796 personal letters written by van Gogh. The symptoms of his Vertigo attacks, their presentation and duration as described in these letters, taken as a whole, are consistent with the clinical picture of Meniére's disease, not epilepsy. They point out that Prosper Meniére's description of his syndrome was not well known at the time of van Gogh's death, and was often misdiagnosed as epilepsy. During the last years of his life, van Gogh was labeled epileptic, although no rigid criteria for this diagnosis are evident. This diagnosis is still prevalent in the art history literature today. His symptoms included episodic vertigo and dizziness, physical imbalance, hearing symptoms, ear noises (tinnitus) as well as a presumed secondary psychological reaction to his physical symptomatology. van Gogh's diagnosis of epilepsy is based on written diagnosis in his medical records in 1889 when he was interred (voluntarily) in St. Remy at an asylum for epileptics and lunatics.
作者们提议纠正一种历史误解，即文森特·梵高的健康问题是由癫痫所致。相反，作者们认为他主要的健康问题是梅尼埃病。作者们查阅了梵高所写的796封私人信件。信中描述的他眩晕发作的症状、表现及持续时间，总体来看与梅尼埃病的临床症状相符，而非癫痫。他们指出，在梵高去世时，普罗斯珀·梅尼埃对其综合征的描述尚不为人熟知，该病常被误诊为癫痫。在他生命的最后几年，梵高被诊断为癫痫患者，尽管并无明确的诊断标准。如今，这一诊断在艺术史文献中依然普遍存在。他的症状包括发作性眩晕和头晕、身体失衡、听力症状、耳部杂音（耳鸣）以及对其身体症状的一种推测性继发心理反应。梵高被诊断为癫痫是基于1889年他在圣雷米一家癫痫与疯人院（自愿）住院时的病历书面诊断。
