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A Variant of Vestibulo-Cochlear Neurolabyrinthitis?

Mikael Karlberg, MD, PhD; G. Michael Halmagyi, MD; Ulrich Büttner, MD; Robyn A. Yavor, RN

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2000;126:1024-1029.

We describe 4 patients who all simultaneously developed a sudden total or partial unilateral sensorineural hearing loss and an unusual acute peripheral vestibulopathy in the same ear characterized by posterior semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo with intact lateral semicircular canal function. Two patients also had ipsilateral loss of otolith function. The vertigo resolved in all 4 patients after particle-repositioning maneuvers. The findings of audiometry and vestibular tests indicated that the lesion responsible for this syndrome was probably located within the labyrinth itself rather than within the vestibulocochlear nerve and that it was more likely a viral vestibulocochlear neurolabyrinthitis than a labyrinthine infarction.

From the Department of Neuro-otology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia (Drs Karlberg and Halmagyi and Ms Yavor); and the Department of Neurology, Klinikum Großhadern, München, Germany (Dr Büttner).