Abstract
A 40-year-old woman acutely developed an unsteady gait, vertigo, and tinnitus in the left ear one week after an upper respiratory tract infection. A neurological examination revealed severe gait ataxia and a mild lack of coordination in the left limbs. No gaze nystagmus, saccadic pursuit, ocular dysmetria or dysarthria were seen. The examination of cerebrospinal fluid was unremarkable. Repeated cranial MRI studies with Gd-infusion showed no abnormalities, thus suggesting that multiple sclerosis and an occlusion of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery to be highly unlikely. Pure-tone audiometry demonstrated neural deafness in the left ear. The auditory-evoked brainstem response demonstrated a prolongation of the I-III interpeak latency, thus suggesting a lesion within the left lower pons. This case suggests that acute cerebellitis can cause vertigo with unilateral neural deanfness.
