The use of antiserotonin drugs in the nucleo-reticular vestibular syndrome and vestibular neuronitis
Abstract
Vestibular Neuronitis was described in 1949 and 1952 by Dix and Hallpike. Two groups of patients were described, those with sudden seizures and sensations of blackout (since identified as having Vestibular Neuritis) and a second group with symptoms of disequilibrium and feelings of top heaviness or imbalance. The pathology was felt to be central to the inner ear. Arslan labeled these groups as the Nucleo-Reticular Vestibular Syndrome (NRVS) in 1948 and 1956. Bosatra (1978), utilizing a suprathreshold stapedial reflex test, localized the pathophysiology in the brain stem, an area rich in serotonergic neurons. The author has utilized antiserotonergic drugs, with success, in patients in Dix and Hallpike’s second group, which now should be labeled as NRVS, which properly identifies it as a brain stem affliction. . This paper describes the characteristics and methods of diagnosis and treatment and outcomes of this disorder.. It concludes that antiserotonin drugs are efficacious in its management.
International Tinnitus Journal – ITJ, go to http://www.tinnitusjournal.com/
