Vestibular involvement in peripheral neuropathy: a review.

OBJECTIVE: This paper reviews the current literature on involvement of the vestibular division of the eighth cranial nerve in peripheral neuropathies. The literature abounds with references to auditory neuropathy, which is frequently related to more generalized neuropathies, but there is a marked paucity of work regarding vestibular neuropathy. A brief overview of neuropathies and the anatomy of the vestibulocochlear nerve provide the background for a review of the literature of vestibular nerve involvement in a range of neuropathies.

DESIGN: A literature search including textbooks, and peer-reviewed published journal articles in online bibliographic databases was conducted.

STUDY SAMPLE: Two databases for medical research were included in this review.

RESULTS: The review of the literature indicates that vestibular involvement is a common and consistent finding in many peripheral neuropathies of different aetiologies. Specifically, if patients present unsteadiness/ataxia out of proportion to objective signs of somatosensory loss or muscle weakness.

CONCLUSION: This review concludes that vestibular neuropathy, is common in peripheral neuropathy and should be identified to optimize patient management and rehabilitation.