XXV Vestibular Neuronitis

Abstract

A total of 40 cases of vestibular neuronitis were examined and treated at the Otolaryngological Hospital, University of Helsinki, in 1960-1964. The mean age of the 24 women and 16 men was 34 years. A special study was made of the occurrence of infection and of auditory and vestibular function. Both pure tone audiometry and speech audiometry were performed, and vestibular function was recorded by electronystagmography. Thirty of the patients had a history of prevertigo infection, and 14 patients of them still had definite symptoms of infection on admission to hospital. The infection was localized in the upper respiratory tract in 26 and in the urinary tract in 2 cases, in the intestinal tract in 1 and in the hand in 1 case. None of the patients had noted a change in hearing during vertigo. Audiometry showed that 38 had normal hearing, 2 had an impairment of hearing due to an old war injury. Vestibular function was pathologic in all the cases: spontaneous nystagmus and canal paresis were established in 38 cases, 2 patients had directional preponderance. A follow-up examination was performed on 27 patients an average of 2 years 1 month from the onset of the disease. All the patients reported that the vertigo had been cured. Five patients, however, mentioned a slight sensation of dizziness in connection with sudden movements. The examination showed that only 8 patients had normal vestibular function; diminished function persisted in the diseased ear of the other 19 patients. The average duration of the disability was 6 weeks.