Vestibular neuritis affects both superior and inferior vestibular nerves.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the profiles of afferent dysfunction in a cross section of patients with acute vestibular neuritis using tests of otolith and semicircular canal function sensitive to each of the 5 vestibular end organs.

METHODS: Forty-three patients fulfilling clinical criteria for acute vestibular neuritis were recruited between 2010 and 2016 and studied within 10 days of symptom onset. Otolith function was evaluated with air-conducted cervical and bone-conducted ocular/vestibular evoked myogenic potentials and the subjective visual horizontal test. Canal-plane video head impulse tests (vHITs) assessed the function of each semicircular canal. Patterns of recovery were investigated in 16 patients retested after a 6- to 12-month follow-up period.

RESULTS: Rates of horizontal canal (97.7%), anterior canal (90.7%), and utricular (72.1%) dysfunction were significantly higher than rates of posterior canal (39.5%) and saccular (39.0%) dysfunction (p < 0.008). Twenty-four patients (55.8%) had abnormalities localizing to both vestibular nerve divisions; 18 patients (41.9%) had superior neuritis; and 1 patient (2.3%) had inferior neuritis. A test battery that included horizontal and posterior canal vHIT and the cervical/vestibular evoked myogenic potentials identified superior or inferior neuritis in all patients tested acutely. Eight of 16 patients who were retested at follow-up had recovered a normal vestibular evoked myogenic potential and vHIT profile.

CONCLUSIONS: Acute vestibular neuritis most often affects both vestibular nerve divisions. The horizontal vHIT alone identifies superior nerve dysfunction in all patients with vestibular neuritis tested acutely, whereas both cervical/vestibular evoked myogenic potentials and posterior vHIT are necessary for diagnosing inferior vestibular nerve involvement.