Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Feb 19;61(2):361.
doi: 10.3390/medicina61020361.

Inferior Vestibular Neuritis: Diagnostic Criteria, Clinical Features, and Prognosis-A Focused Review

Gabriela Cornelia Musat  1 , Mihai Alexandru Preda  1 , Ionut Tanase  1 , Adina Zamfir Chiru Anton  1 , George G Mitroi  2 , Ovidiu Musat  3 , Alina Lavinia Antoaneta Oancea  1 , Mihaela Roxana Mitroi  2
Affiliations
Review

Inferior Vestibular Neuritis: Diagnostic Criteria, Clinical Features, and Prognosis-A Focused Review

Gabriela Cornelia Musat et al. Medicina (Kaunas). .

Abstract

Purpose: This review aims to analyze the diagnostic methods used to evaluate inferior vestibular nerve neuritis. Methods: We performed an electronic search on the PubMed database for clinical studies investigating the diagnostic techniques used for inferior vestibular nerve neuritis. Results: We initially identified 114 records in our search. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we narrowed it down to 12 studies. These studies collectively examined a total of 642 patients diagnosed with vestibular nerve neuritis, 64 of whom had inferior vestibular neuritis. Conclusions: The inferior vestibular neuritis is an unfrequent form of vestibular neuritis, often misdiagnosed. The diagnosis of inferior vestibular neuritis (IVN) is based on clinical history and vestibular testing, specifically reduced posterior canal gain on video head impulse test (vHIT), absent cervical VEMP (cVEMP), normal caloric responses, and preserved ocular VEMP (oVEMP). This review highlights the gaps in current diagnostic strategies and emphasizes the need for integrating advanced vestibular testing methods to enhance diagnostic accuracy for inferior vestibular nerve neuritis. Future studies should address the standardization of diagnostic protocols to facilitate broader clinical application.

Keywords: VEMP; caloric testing; inferior vestibular neuritis; vHIT; vestibular neuritis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of the literature search.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Strupp M., Strupp M., Bisdorff A., Bisdorff A., Furman J., Furman J., Hornibrook J., Hornibrook J., Jahn K., Jahn K., et al. Acute unilateral vestibulopathy/vestibular neuritis: Diagnostic criteria. J. Vestib. Res. 2022;32:389–406. doi: 10.3233/VES-220201. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arbusow V., Schulz P., Strupp M., Dieterich M., Von Reinhardstoettner A., Rauch E., Brandt T. Distribution of herpes simplex virus type 1 in human geniculate and vestibular ganglia: Implications for vestibular neuritis. Ann. Neurol. 1999;46:416–419. doi: 10.1002/1531-8249(199909)46:3<416::AID-ANA20>3.0.CO;2-W. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Michael S., Thomas B., Marianne D. Vertigo and Dizziness, Common Complaints. Springer; London, UK: 2023.
    1. Neuhauser H.K. Epidemiology of vertigo. Curr. Opin. Neurol. 2007;20:40–46. doi: 10.1097/WCO.0b013e328013f432. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sekitani T., Imate Y., Noguchi T., Inokuma T. Vestibular Neuronitis: Epidemiological Survey by Questionnaire in Japan. Acta Oto-Laryngol. 1993;113:9–12. doi: 10.3109/00016489309128061. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources