New clinical finding in vestibular neuritis: high-frequency audiometry hearing loss in the affected ear

Twenty-one patients with established vestibular neuronitis were examined otoneurologically and audiologically. High-frequency audiometry up to 20,000 Hz was performed on all the patients. In 17 cases a high-frequency hearing loss was greater in the ear with vestibular neuritis. The mean hearing loss difference varied from 14 dB to 24 depending on the frequency. Our results reveal that in most cases of vestibular neuritis there are no isolated vestibular lesions, but most cases also involve an auditory end-organ lesion. This finding is in unison with the anatomic conditions of the cochlea and the vestibular end-organ.