Vestibular and audiological/otological symptoms in 1512 patients with mild to moderate COVID-19

Vestibular and audiological/otological symptoms in 1512 patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 The aim of the present study is to assess the prevalence and clinical features of vestibular and audiological/otological symptoms among 1512 patients with mild to moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection, who were evaluated daily by a medical telephone monitoring center. The data was derived from open-ended and targeted questions posed by physicians with the necessary skills to classify symptoms accurately, and not from rigid questionnaires filled out independently by patients. A total of 251 patients reported dizziness (16.6%); 30 (12.0%) of them complained of true vertigo, 41 (16.3%) of presyncope, 70 (27.9%) of disequilibrium, and 110 of lightheadedness (43.8%). Among the subjects with vertigo, 20 (66.7%) were attributable to benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, 6 to vestibular migraine (20%), 2 to vestibular neuritis (6.7%), 1 to labyrinthitis (3.3%), and 1 to Ménière's disease (3.3%). The following audiological/otological symptoms were reported: aural fullness (6.6%, 100/1512), tinnitus (6.5%, 99/1512), otalgia (5.6%, 85/1512), hyperacusis (3.0%, 46/1512), otorrhea (0.4%, 6/1512), and sudden sensorineural hearing loss (0.2%, 3/1512). Possible etiopathogenic mechanisms, duration, and positive correlation with other generic symptoms, including asthenia, rhinitis, cough, fever, anosmia, dysgeusia, anorexia, myalgia, headache, dyspnea, nausea, pharyngodynia, psychiatric symptoms, arthralgia, ocular symptoms, and diarrhea were also investigated in this study.