title: Natural history of horizontal canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is truly short.
abstract: The objective of the study is to characterize the natural course of positional vertigo and nystagmus in patients with horizontal canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (h-BPPV) and to analyze the difference in the natural course between the two variants of h-BPPV. We conducted a prospective study in 106 patients with geotropic type h-BPPV [h-BPPV (Geo)] (n = 43) and apogeotropic type h-BPPV [h-BPPV (Apo)] (n = 63) who agreed and signed the written informed consent of no treatment. All patients were asked to answer a detailed interview about the onset time of positional vertigo and to visit the hospital every 1-3 days. At every visit, they were interviewed about cessation time of positional vertigo and positional nystagmus was assessed. The mean period ± SD between the onset and remission of vertigo in the h-BPPV (Geo) was 6.7 ± 6.3 days, whereas that in the h-BPPV (Apo) was 3.7 ± 4.1 days. In addition, the mean period ± SD from the initial diagnosis to the disappearance of positional nystagmus in the h-BPPV (Geo) was 4.7 ± 3.9 days, whereas that in the h-BPPV (Apo) was 4.4 ± 5.0 days. Although the duration until natural remission of positional nystagmus did not differ between the two variants of h-BPPV, the remission of vertigo occurred faster in h-BPPV (Apo) than h-BPPV (Geo) (p < 0.05). The natural course of h-BPPV is much shorter than that indicated in previous reports. The positional vertigo disappeared faster in the h-BPPV (Apo) compared to the h-BPPV (Geo) unlike the positional nystagmus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Myongji Hospital, 697-24 Hwajung-dong, Deokyang-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi, 412-270, Korea.
authors.forename: Dae Bo
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Kyung Min
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Joon Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hong Ju
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Mee Hyun
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D065635:Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009760:Nystagmus, Physiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D014724:Vestibular Function Tests; D055815:Young Adult