[Sudden unilateral deafness and geotropic positional nystagmus--a special form of acute cochleo-vestibular disorders?].

Three patients with complete sudden unilateral hearing loss suffered from delayed vertigo and presented a strong geotropic positional nystagmus during the evolution of their disease. Significant direction-fixed spontaneous nystagmus was absent, although two of the three patients had markedly decreased caloric responses on the diseased side. These findings are considered as a special form of peripheral cochleovestibular disorder restricted mainly to the cochlea and the otolith organs.