Incidence, seasonality and comorbidity in vestibular neuritis

Abstract

Source of funding: None other than the author's own institution. 1 Incidence, seasonality and comorbidity in vestibular neuritis AbstractAims of the present study were: 1) to assess the incidence of vestibular neuritis (VN) in the adult population in two cities in Croatia, 2) to identify distribution of new VN cases in the different months and seasons by years, and 3) to identify comorbidities associated with VN. This is a prospective, population-based study conducted in the cities of Zagreb and Velika Gorica, Croatia in the 2011-2012 period. All diagnoses were confirmed either with caloric test or vestibular evoked myogenic potentials within 7 days of symptom onset. Following clinical parameters were collected from all patients: age, gender, side of the lesion, month and season of symptoms onset and comorbidities. We identified 79 new cases of VN (34 in 2011VN (34 in , 45 in 2012. The male to female ratio was 1.1:1. The mean age at the onset of the disease was 52.3 (range 20-86) years. The average annual incidence was 11.7 per 100,000 (95% CI 7,8 -15,6) in the 2011 period and 15.5 per 100,000 (95% CI 11,0 -20,0) in the 2012 period.For both years there was no statistically significant uneven distribution in the different months or seasons by years. The most frequent comorbidities present in VN patients were hypertension (30.4%), diabetes mellitus (8.9%), hyperlipidemia (7.5%) and hypothyreosis (6.3%). Our study has shown higher incidence of VN than previously reported. We have found no evidence of seasonality of VN and significant proportion of VN patients older than 50 years who had vascular risk factors present.

Acute Unilateral Vestibulopathy

“…It accounts for about 8% of patients with vertigo 4 ; this is also true for children. 5 The usual age of onset is between 30 and 60 years, 3 and age distribution plateaus between 40 and 50 years. 2,3 There is no significant gender difference.…”

“…1 An annual incidence of between 3.5 and 15.5 per 100,000 persons has been described. 2,3 In a large cohort of more than 22,000 patients who had standardized evaluations in a vertigo clinic, acute unilateral vestibulopathy was the sixth most common cause of vertigo/dizziness and the third most common cause of peripheral vestibular disorders (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo [BPPV] ranks first, Meniè re's disease second). It accounts for about 8% of patients with vertigo 4 ; this is also true for children.…”

Vestibular Rehabilitation for Peripheral Vestibular Hypofunction

“…The reported incidence of vestibular neuritis, a common etiology underlying vestibular hypofunction, is approximately 15 per 100,000 people. 7 , 8 Based on a meta-analysis of published studies, Kroenke et al 9 estimated that 9% of the approximately 7 million clinic visits (or 630,000 clinic visits) each year for dizziness are due to vestibular neuritis or labyrinthitis. However, this figure does not include etiologies such as vestibular schwannoma or bilateral vestibular loss and, therefore, underestimates the number of people with peripheral vestibular hypofunction.…”

Long-Term Changes in Video Head Impulse and Caloric Tests in Patients with Unilateral Vestibular Neuritis

“…1) It is the most common cause of acute spontaneous vertigo and the third most common cause of peripheral vestibular disease. [2][3][4] Since VN is mostly caused by involvement of the superior vestibular nerve, caloric test, which evaluates the unilateral vestibular deficit by studying the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) of the horizontal semicircular canal, has been widely used as a gold standard for VN diagnosis. This examination allows quantitative evaluation of vestibular function by comparison of the results to those of the contralateral side.…”