Vertigo is defined as a rotational
sensation associated with nystagmus and often accompanied by nausea and
vomiting, and somatic instability such as gait disturbance. In patients with
vertigo that occurs suddenly and subsides rapidly (within 24 hour) the caloric
test, a vestibular dysfunction test, is generally negative.
Because its
underlying disease is poorly understood, and does not satisfy the criteria of
vestibular neuritis (VN), in which vertigo continues for more than 24 hour, the caloric test is positive, and steroid therapy is usually effective, in our
specialist vertigo center we arbitrarily called this type of vertigo
“idiopathic transient vestibulopathy” (ITV). There are a number of diseases
that cause vertigo (i.e., vestibular nerve disease, regional and systemic
circulatory diseases that cause vestibular ischemia, cerebrocerebellar disease,
and so on). The underlying diseases for other than ITV are well known, but
that for ITV is poorly understood.
