Objective: To investigate the background of hospitalized patients with vestibular neuritis over a ten-year period
. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in the medical records of patients with vestibular neuritis who were hospitalized in our hospital between January 2001 and December 2010.
Results: Forty-nine patients with vertigo attacks were hospitalized during this period, with ages ranging from 22 to 82 years. The age distribution showed a peak at 60 years. The proportion of 65 years and older was 34.7%. There was no significant difference in the length of hospitalization between under 65 y.o. and 65-and-over patients. The high onset season was spring and summer but there were no significant differences. The duration of the spontaneous nystagmus, the symptoms of dizziness and of the bed rest were 5.5±2.2, 3.0±1.5 and 3.8±1.5 days respectively. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus and hypertension was 10.4% and 27.1%, respectively. Enhanced regions of the vestibular nerve were not detected in 16 cases among those who examined with gadolinium-enhanced MRI. Cases of preceding upper respiratory infection only accounted for 7 patients. Only 2 patients showed an increased level of CRP in the blood test at the time of admission. The duration of bed rest and hospitalization in the corticosteroids treatment group were shorter than in the nonsteroid treatment group.
Conclusion: In this study, there was no trend associated with aging in hospitalized patients with vestibular neuritis. The number of cases of preceding upper respiratory infection was small. No enhanced regions were detected with Gd-enhanced MRI in all cases so examined. Our findings suggest that corticosteroids contribute less to symptomatic recovery of vestibular function in the acute phase of VN. It is useful to investigate the background of hospitalized patients in order to understand the pathology of vestibular neuritis.
