Borrelia infection in patients with vertigo and sensorineural hearing loss

Tick-borne Borrelia infection gives rise to symptoms from different organs. Neurologic manifestations are common. The aim of this study was to evaluate to what extent the cochleovestibular functions are involved in this disease. A total of 73 patients with vertigo were studied. The patients had Meniere-like conditions, positional vertigo or unilateral loss of the vestibular function. Antibodies in serum to the Borrelia spirochete were determined in the acute and convalescent periods. Ten patients, 14 per cent, had serological evidence of Borreliosis. All these patients had severe vertigo and four of them had sensorineural hearing loss, furthermore they had positional nystagmus and the nystagmus showed patterns of both central and/or peripheral vestibular lesions. Treatment with high doses of penicillin-G was favourable in five of the patients with vertigo and in one patient with sensorineural hearing loss. Borrelia infection is an etiological factor which should be considered in patients suffering from vertigo and/or sensorineural hearing loss of unknown origin.