Giant cell arteritis: a new association with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

Objective: To assess the incidence and characteristics of both benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and positional nystagmus in a series of patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA).

Study Design: Patients diagnosed with GCA between June 1999 and May 2001 at the single hospital for a defined population were examined prospectively.

Method: Patients included in this study fulfilled the 1990 American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for GCA. Otologic and oculographic studies were performed. Type, frequency, and outcome of positional oculographic findings was assessed. Patients were required to have been examined within 1 week after the onset of corticosteroid therapy. Data found in GCA patients were compared with those observed in an age, sex, and ethnically matched control population. Further studies in patients and controls were performed 3 and 6 months later.

Results: Forty-four patients and 44 matched controls were included in this study. Nine (20.5%) GCA patients fulfilled diagnostic criteria of BPPV compared with only 1 (2.3%) of the controls (P =.007). In seven of these nine GCA patients, BPPV was related to the posterior and two to the horizontal semicircular canals, respectively. Horizontal nystagmus was found in seven GCA patients who developed nystagmus in the head hanging position test compared with none in the controls (P =.006).

Conclusions: The present study shows a higher frequency of BPPV in GCA than in matched controls. Because most clinical manifestations in GCA are caused by ischemic complications, our results suggest an ischemic etiology as responsible for BPPV in these elderly patients. According to these results, GCA may constitute a new association with BPPV.