[Acute loss of vestibular function: an emergency for patient and physician]

The dramatic symptomatology of sudden loss of vestibular function alarms the patient and the physician who is consulted in an emergency situation. The continuous vertigo is often accompanied by marked autonomic symptomatology, so that heart and cerebral diseases as well as acute intoxication are often primarily diagnosed. The differential diagnosis, clinical features, course of the disease and treatment are presented in this study of 54 patients treated in our department between 1980 and 1985. Aetiology and pathogenesis are discussed on the basis of the literature.