[Acute isolated vestibular paralysis. A clinical and electronystagmographic follow-up study in 28 patients]

Twenty-eight patients with unilateral acute vestibular paralysis (vestibular neuronitis) were examined after a period of 4-140 months. Seventeen of these patients were examined by electronystagmography with caloric stimuli at 44 degrees, 30 degrees, 17 degrees and 0 degrees C. Most were free of subjective symptoms only one-third had slight unsteadiness after sudden head movement. Subjective symptoms were independent of the presence of permanent canal paralysis or partial recovery of caloric excitability. Spontaneous nystagmus of 3-6,6% intensities was found in 11 of 17 patients. The normal limit for physiological spontaneous nystagmus should therefore be below 3 degrees/s. The most reliable parameter was the maximum velocity of the slow phase, as a mean value of the 4 caloric responses (values corrected for spontaneous nystagmus). The results were: 6 patients with persistent canal paralysis; 4 patients with considerable hypoexcitability; and 7 patients with moderate hypoexcitability. In no patient complete restoration of normal caloric response was found. This is attributed to the described method of caloric testing, which permits exact measurement of small side differences in excitability.