The audiovestibular manifestations as early symptoms of multiple sclerosis: a scoping review of the literature

ConclusionAn understanding of the sensitivity of evoked potentials in the detection of demyelinating lesions as well as the most common audiovestibular presentations of the disease allows the practitioner to provide an appropriate onward referral for MRI which may lead to early diagnosis and intervention of MS. We suggest that there is enough evidence to include evoked potentials complementary to MRI in the detection and monitoring of MS. As the review suggests evidence of involvement of the immune-mediated mechanisms of MS on peripheral structures like the inner ear, further clinical research is recommended to explore this mechanism.Key points1. The most common audiovestibular manifestation as an early symptom of MS was unilateral moderate to profound SSHL across all frequencies (250  Hz–8000 Hz).2. Findings of the review indicated the involvement of the immune-mediated mechanisms of MS in the peripheral structures of the inner ear.3. These findings included peripheral results in the vestibular test of the patients involved in the study and secondly, the three studies which reported an absence of full recovery of hearing loss were also three papers which within their ABR results showed abnormality of wave I4. This is the first paper to support the theory (Di Stadio et al. 2018) [32] that immune-mediated processes of MS can spread to peripheral inner ear structures5. The review highlighted the sensitivity of evoked potentials in detecting MS lesions in the presenting stag...
Source: Irish Journal of Medical Science - Category: General Medicine Source Type: research