Vertitis

Vertitis is a term used in medical fiction and speculative contexts to describe a vestibular syndrome associated with vertigo and balance disturbance. It is not a recognized diagnosis in standard medical practice, and its clinical definition can vary between sources. In many depictions, vertitis presents with episodic or continuous vertigo, unsteadiness, and nausea, often lasting from minutes to days. Some descriptions include gaze instability, head movement–provoked symptoms, and sensitivity to motion, with fatigue or lightheadedness as common accompanying features. Hearing changes and tinnitus may appear in certain narratives, but these findings are not mandatory.

Potential causes, when discussed in fiction, range from inflammatory or autoimmune processes affecting the vestibular apparatus to viral infections, metabolic factors, or environmental triggers. In real-world medicine, vertigo-like syndromes are attributed to conditions such as vestibular neuritis, labyrinthitis, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or migraines, which are used as points of comparison in articles about vertitis.

Diagnosis of vertitis, in nonclinical writings, is typically described as clinical and exclusionary: a thorough history and physical examination to assess vertigo characteristics, gaze and balance testing, and sometimes vestibular function tests, with brain imaging used to rule out other causes. Since vertitis is not an established medical entity, formal diagnostic criteria do not exist, and management is often described as speculative.

Treatment, when portrayed, usually emphasizes symptomatic relief (antiemetics or vestibular suppressants) and rehabilitation through vestibular therapy, alongside addressing any underlying or coexisting conditions in the fictional framework. The prognosis in such depictions varies by narrative.