Clinical observation of 32 cases of vestibular neuronitis.

Clinical observations were made on 32 patients with vestibular neuronitis in the last 5 years: 14 male and 18 female, ranging from 15-76 years, the average being 46.3. Within the age distribution of the cases, two peaks were observed: a younger and an older group. Five patients (15%) had recently contracted infection of the upper respiratory tract before the onset of the disease, and two developed benign paroxysmal positional vertigo during the recovery period. Spontaneous nystagmus was observed in 19 cases (59%) in the first medical examination. There were several patients in whom there was the possibility of central lesions based upon the findings of equilibrium examinations. No relation was found between the degree of canal paresis and the time required for recuperation; however, the older patients took much longer to recover from the disease. Our results showed that there were considerable individual variations regarding the clinical findings, which may suggest that the pathological entity that creates this disease is not simple.