A Case of COVID-19-Induced Vestibular Neuritis

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19, a novel coronavirus infection, as a pandemic in March 2020. Since the origin of the disease in Wuhan, China, understanding the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, screening guidelines, and management of the disease has been ever-evolving. Though respiratory pathologies have been the major complications of a COVID-19 infection, other presentations like abdominal pain, deep venous thrombosis, cardiomyopathy, and even acute cerebrovascular ischemic attacks have been reported. We present a case of a young patient presenting with vertigo, possibly from COVID-19-induced acute vestibular neuritis. This is a 20-year-old Hispanic female patient presenting with intractable vertigo, nausea, and vomiting but without any typical symptoms like fever, cough, or shortness of breath. Initial examination and imaging ruled out an acute stroke. There was minimal improvement in her vestibular symptoms with the recommended COVID-19 treatment as of March 2020 (hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin) and symptomatic management. Her inflammatory markers were surprisingly normal all through the hospital course. She was then treated with oral prednisone and subsequently discharged home after a prolonged course of eight days. The pathophysiology of COVID-19-induced vestibular neuritis could be similar to any other viral infection. Clinicians should consider COVID-19 in the differential diagnosis for patients presenting with similar symptoms, especially in areas of a high prevalence of this disease. Early diagnosis of COVID-19 in such cases is important for proper isolation, to minimize exposure and avoid further unnecessary investigations. These symptoms will just resolve with symptomatic management like any other case of vestibular neuritis without any further management that is specific for a COVID-19 infection.

Keywords: central vertigo; covid-19 disease; novel covid-19; vestibular evaluations.