Inflammatory Markers and Cardiovascular Risk Factors Among Patients with Vestibular Neuritis

Introduction: Inflammatory markers levels, the Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) and Platelet to Lymphocyte Ratio (PLR), were found to be higher and significant among patients with Vestibular Neuritis (VN). In addition to that, a possible interrelation between Cardiovascular Risk Factors (CVRFs) and VN was found. This correlation can be caused by occlusion of small blood vessels leading to labyrinthine ischemia, through an inflammatory process in the vessels. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible correlation between NLR & PLR, and CVRFs among VN patients.

Method: A cross sectional retrospective study was conducted in a tertiary hospital setting. The medical records of 160 patients (aged over 18 years old) who were hospitalized between the years 2005-2014 with the diagnosis of VN were retrieved. Inclusion criteria were: 1) acute vertigo lasting for at least 24 hours, 2) absence of auditory complaints, 3) horizontal unidirectional nystagmus present during physical examination, 4) absence of neurological symptoms or signs. The levels of NLR and PLR were compared to the reports in the literature and the correlation between those levels and CVRFs among those patients was examined.

Results: High levels of inflammatory markers were found among patients with VN. No correlation between the inflammatory markers and CVRFs was found.

Conclusions: The findings suggest an inflammatory etiology in VN. However, it is probably not mediated directly through CVRFs.