Vestibular Neuritis With Minimal Canal Paresis: Characteristics and Clinical Implication.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze the clinical characteristics of vestibular neuritis patients with minimal canal paresis (canal paresis <25%).


METHODS
Patients clinically diagnosed with vestibular neuritis and treated at our institute (n=201) underwent otoneurological examination and vestibular function tests. Patients were categorized in terms of the results of caloric testing (canal paresis<25%, n=58; canal paresis≥25%, n=143). Clinical characteristics and laboratory outcomes were compared between two groups.


RESULTS
Existence of underlying diseases, preceding symptoms, and direction of spontaneous nystagmus were not different between the groups. The mean duration of spontaneous nystagmus was shortest in the minimal canal paresis group (P<0.001) and the direction of spontaneous nystagmus changed more frequently in this group (P<0.001) during recovery. Among the subgroup with minimal canal paresis, only 29.5% had an abnormal finding on the rotatory chair test, as compared to 81.5% of the canal paresis group. The minimal canal paresis group showed higher sensory organization test scores in computerized dynamic posturography.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with minimal canal paresis (canal paresis <25%) show similar clinical manifestations as conventional vestibular neuritis patients, but have faster recovery of symptoms and a higher incidence of recovery nystagmus. This finding support that the minimal canal paresis could be considered as a milder type of vestibular neuritis.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
Hyun Ji
HJ
Kim
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
Dae-Young
DY
Kim
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
Jun Ha
JH
Hwang
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
Kyu-Sung
KS
Kim
Canal Paresis; Spontaneous Nystagmus; Vertigo; Vestibular Neuritis
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