Viral and Bacterial Causes of Labyrinthitis
Suzan Sulaiman Alzaidi *
Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah Ali Alali
Department of Emergency Medicine, King Fahad Hospital, Al Ahsaa, Saudi Arabia.
Zainab Radhi Alebrahim
College of Medicine, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Bahrain.
Hawraa Abdulwahab Mayouf
College of Medicine, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Bahrain.
Raghad Fahad Alomairy
College of Medicine, Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Fatemah Yasser Alhedaithy
College of Medicine, Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Felwah Khalid Alassaf
College of Medicine, Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Balqees Nasser Alhammad
College of Medicine, Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Saad Naser Ali
College of Medicine, Vision Colleges, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah Ali Alqabandi
College of Medicine, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Bahrain.
Sarab Saad Alharthi
College of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Labyrinthitis is a known inflammation of the membranous structure of the inner ear. Affected patients usually present with nausea and vomiting, vertigo, hearing loss/impairment, and tinnitus. Many etiologies have been proposed to lead to the development of labyrinthitis, including bacterial, viral, systemic, and iatrogenic causes and the most commonly reported causes include viral and bacterial infections. Not many investigations have elaborated on the viral and bacterial etiologies, and the evidence seems to be scattered across the different studies. In the present study, we have reviewed the literature to discuss the current evidence regarding the viral and bacterial causes of labyrinthitis. Many viruses and bacteria were reported in the literature to cause the condition. However, the most common pathogen includes cytomegalovirus and maternal rubella infections, leading to congenital hearing loss. Other viruses as measles and mumps might also lead to developing post-natal labyrinthitis. Studies also indicates that COVID-19 can be a recent cause of the disease. However, evidence regarding this information, similar to the case with other viral and bacterial etiologies, still needs further validation and reporting before making solid conclusions. Accordingly, we encourage researchers to furtherly report about similar cases and conduct epidemiological investigations to better understand the etiology of the disease.
Keywords: Labyrinthitis, viral, bacterial, etiology