When Linda Luxon, who has died aged 75 of a brain tumour, began her medical career, few had heard of “audiovestibular medicine”. First recognised as a medical specialty in 1975, it treats a wide range of disorders that affect hearing and balance. The vestibular system controls balance and spatial orientation through organs located in the vestibule, a bony cavity of the inner ear. These organs detect head movement and send signals to the brain so that we stay upright and balanced. When the system malfunctions, dizziness, vertigo and tinnitus can result.
According to her close colleague Doris-Eva Bamiou, Luxon became the specialty’s pioneer and “poster child”, giving it academic rigour and promoting it widely. In 1991 she was appointed professor of audiovestibular medicine at University College London (UCL). There she anchored the new specialty in evidence-based research, systematically delineating all the different disorders and setting criteria for diagnosis. She wrote or co-authored a number of key reference titles and more than 175 research papers.
