INTRODUCTION
Vestibular neuritis (VN) has an incidence of 3.5 per 100,000 persons and
is the third most frequent cause of peripheral vestibular
vertigo.1, 2 Treatment of acute VN is based on the
following three therapeutic principles: (1) symptomatic therapy, (2)
causal therapy, and (3) improvement of central vestibular compensation.
Studies in the 1990s indicated that corticosteroids can improve the
course of “acute vertigo.”1, 2 Corticosteroids have
been used in therapy based on the theoretic viral cause of
VN.3 Corticosteroids can also be effective not only in
the peripheral vestibular system, but also in the central vestibular
system to restore balance.4
However, the latest Cochrane review in 2011 concluded that there is
insufficient evidence to support the use of corticosteroids in VN but it
stated that corticosteroids had a significant effect on complete caloric
recovery at 1 month.5 After that review, several
reports issued newly an interest in the use of corticosteroids for
VN.6, 7 Ismail et al.6 proposed that
corticosteroids may accelerate the recovery of VN. Sjogren et
al.7 describe a critical period when treatment with
corticosteroids could be effective. In addition, the Cochrane review
published in 2011 proposed the need for future studies, including those
addressing health-related quality of life, subjective measures, and
objective measures. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and
meta-analysis including more updated literature since the latest
Cochrane review was published.5