An 84-year-old man presented to the emergency department for acute vomiting associated with rotational vertigo and a sudden right sensorineural hearing loss. A left peripheral vestibular nystagmus was highlighted. The patient was afebrile, without respiratory signs or symptoms. Blood sampling at admission showed lymphopenia, thrombopenia and neutrophil polynucleosis, without elevation of C reactive protein. Cerebral magnetic resonance imaging eliminated a neurovascular origin. Vestibule, right semicircular canals and cochlear FLAIR hypersignals were highlighted, leading to the diagnosis of right labyrinthitis. A nasopharyngeal swab sampled at admission returned positive for SARS CoV2 by polymerase chain reaction. The etiologic investigation, including syphilitic and viral research, was otherwise negative. An oral corticotherapy (prednisone 70 mg daily) was introduced, followed by a progressive clinical recovery. Although acute otitis media have already been highlighted as an unusual presentation of COVID-19, radiology-proven labyrinthitis had to our knowledge, never been described to date.
Keywords: COVID-19; MRI; SARS CoV2; hearing loss; inner otitis; labyrinthitis; vertigo.