Association between benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and autoimmune chronic thyroiditis

Vestibular disorders in euthyroid patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis: role of thyroid autoimmunity

“…Indeed, the otolithic structure (i.e. the saccule, explored by VEMPs) seems to be more vulnerable than semicircular canals (explored by CT), as already reported when the association between HT and BPPV was investigated . Giving that no HT patient was affected by canalolithiasis, we can hypothesize that the saccular dysfunction detected by VEMPs could rely on early endolymphatic hydrops that, in some cases, may evolve in full‐blown Ménière's disease .…”

“…Similarly, a higher prevalence of BBPV in euthyroid AITD patients than in healthy controls has been reported. These findings suggest an actual relationship between vestibular disorders and thyroid autoimmunity independently from thyroid function …”

“…The reported high prevalence of coexisting autoimmune systemic diseases in patients affected by MD further supports the hypothesis of a pathogenic role of the immune system in MD. 18 Although several studies documented a high prevalence of HT in patients affected by MD and BPPV, [4][5][6][7][8] scanty data still exist on the possible pathogenic role of HTwith or without dysfunctionin the development of endolymphatic hydrops. 3,5,8,23 In this setting, Papi et al 8 reported a higher prevalence of BPPV in patients with euthyroid HT than in healthy controls.…”

“…In the last years, coexisting AITD has been described in a percentage of patients with vestibular disorders, as Ménière's disease (MD) or benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) . In the former disease, an autoimmune origin has been postulated, and we recently showed a relationship between MD and thyroid autoimmunity regardless of thyroid function .…”

“…These findings suggest an actual relationship between vestibular disorders and thyroid autoimmunity independently from thyroid function. [4][5][6][7][8] To shed more light on the relationship between vestibular lesions and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) regardless of thyroid function, we examined vestibular function in euthyroid HT patients as compared to either age-matched patients with benign multinodular goitre (MNG) or healthy subjects without any thyroid disorder.…”