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Biomedical subjects

W J Oosterveld

Publications and source records attributed to W J Oosterveld.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Current diagnostic techniques in vestibular disorders.

Vestibular disorders provoke complaints in patients, affecting daily life sometimes seriously. A systematic approach to elicit a patient's medical history ensures a broad assessment of each individual since vertigo can be caused by a lesion in any part of the vestibular or nervous system. Vestibular test programmes date as far back as 1850. Both vestibulo-spinal and vestibulo-ocular tests have been developed since then. The most recent ones provide the investigator with extremely sophisticated information. Electron stagmography offers the opportunity of gaining insight into the visual pursuit system, which adds considerable value to the whole test battery. Current diagnostics of the vestibular system partly deals with neurophthalmology as far as all aspects of ocular motility are concerned.

Eye Movements↗
PubMed1991

Electronystagmographic findings following cervical whiplash injuries.

A group of 262 patients suffering from the after-effects of an acceleration trauma of the neck were subjected to an extensive vestibular examination. 85% of the patients complained of some type of vertigo. The visual suppression test conducted during rotation showed pathology in 37% of the cases. Visual pursuit movements were affected in 43% of the cases. In a group of 41 patients the results obtained respectively 1 and 2 years after the accident were compared. There was no significant improvement of the findings. No oculomotor system pathology was found in 99 cases (38%), and no electronystagmographic pathology at all in 55 cases (21%). The study emphasized the fact that nystagmographic examinations are able to detect central vestibular dysfunction and is therefore a suitable method to prove pathology.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Vertical nystagmus provoked by locally applied calorization at the vertical semicircular canals: a study in pigeons.

Calorization of the vertical semicircular canals in pigeons was performed by irrigation of water through a polyethylene cannula, that was attached at a selected site to the bony wall of the anterior or posterior canal of the labyrinth. The temperature differences between the stimulated site and the corresponding location inside the contralateral mastoid were detected by two thermistors. (a) Calorization of an anterior or posterior canal evoked a dissociated vertical nystagmus in both eyes. (b) The direction of the nystagmus and of the vertical slow phase velocity proved to be temperature-dependent. (c) The vertical eye movements disappeared when the stimulated canal was placed horizontally during calorization. (d) During parabolic flight the vertical and horizontal eye movements, elicited by sustained calorization, disappeared during short periods of microgravity and proved to be dependent to the g load. (e) All vertical canal calorizations evoked eye movements in the plane parallel to the stimulated canal. Left and right eye moved in opposite vertical directions, depending on the selected site of calorization on the vertical canal. (f) The same mode (warm or cold) of calorization of an anterior canal provoked similar vertical movements of both eyes as compared to the vertical eye movements that were induced by calorization of the contralateral posterior canal. The results are discussed in view of the 'convection current' and the 'expansion/contraction' theory and they are compared to previously reported results of vestibular nerve stimulation.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

The use of vestibular tests for the selection of anti-vertigo drugs.

Vertigo is not a disease, but a symptom. Therefore, the therapy of vertigo is primarily directed at eliminating the underlying cause. In about half of the cases the cause will not become apparent, however, and the therapy is doomed to be symptomatic. Several types of drugs have been found to have an anti-vertigo activity, e.g. antihistamines, calcium antagonists, anti-emetics. For the selection of vestibular depressants, the vestibular caloric test and the rotation test can be used. The duration of the nystagmus induced by rotation is the most useful parameter. The lag-period, the extent and duration of the vestibular effects can be determined and compared with that of other substances. A stronger action on a nystagmus does not necessarily mean a stronger anti-vertiginous action. The final proof of an anti-vertiginous activity can only be established in clinical studies in patients with vertigo.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

[Acute dizziness].

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Acute Disease↗
PubMed1987

The caloric vestibular test in weightlessness.

Although the theoretical background for the caloric vestibular test was assumed to be known, recent studies in weightlessness have thrown doubts on the original theory of its mechanism. It is most likely that several mechanisms are involved in the generation of caloric nystagmus in addition to the convection current theory. Experiments with the caloric test in humans conducted during parabolic flight are described. These results are compared with the results of similar experiments performed in orbital missions.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Effect of betahistine dihydrochloride on induced vestibular nystagmus: a double blind study.

The effect of betahistine on vestibular nystagmus induced by means of a torsion swing was tested in 10 subjects. Each individual received, in a randomized double-blind study, 3 different single oral dosages of betahistine (8, 16 and 32 mg) on 3 different occasions. Electronystagmographic tracings were taken at different time-intervals after drug intake. At 3-4 hours after a dose of 8 mg betahistine the nystagmus duration was reduced by 35%, after 16 mg betahistine by 48% and after 32 mg betahistine by 59% (mean values). All these differences in dose-response are highly significant (P less than 0.0005). It can be concluded from these results, that a dose of 3 X 8 mg or 3 X 16 mg betahistine daily will be efficacious in maintenance treatment of vertigo, and a dose of 3 X 24 mg betahistine daily will have even more effect.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

The combined effect of cinnarizine and domperidone on vestibular susceptibility.

Four test medications were randomly examined in 25 volunteers for the depressant effect on the labyrinth during stimulation in a rotation chair as well as in a parallel swing. The medications, placebo (pl), Domperidone 30 mg (D), Cinnarizine 40 mg (C) and Touristil 40 mg + 30 mg (C+D), were tested at 1-week intervals, the duration and amplitude of nystagmus having been recorded 15 min, 30 min, 1, 2, 3 and 4 h after intake of the medication. In both tests Touristil (C+D) was significantly (p less than 0.01) to very significantly (p less than 0.0001) more potent, more rapid, and longer working than placebo and the separate components (C) and (D). In addition the working of Touristil was specifically superior to Cinnarizine, when given separately. It appears that the new preparation Touristil approaches the profile of the ideal drug against motion sickness more closely than any other medication.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1987

The effect of weightlessness on the flight behavior of pigeons with canal lesions.

The flight behavior of birds in parabolic flight was studied. Pigeons with labyrinthine lesions were released in weightlessness. Birds with one obstructed labyrinth showed a barbecue spin rotation, with movement directed toward the obstructed labyrinth. The birds with vertical canal blocks showed rotatory movements in the plane of the blocked canals. In weightlessness, the head was in retroflexion and bent over the shoulder, on the side of the obstructed anterior canal. They made tumbling movements backwards around the Y-axis through the skull, and this resulted in a spiral flight pattern. In birds with both the labyrinths obstructed three different phases can be distinguished. The first phase, in which a barbecue spin rotation directed towards the most recently obstructed labyrinth was clear, lasted 1 week. In the second phase this spin behavior is superimposed on a forward tumbling movement: an "outside loop." In the third phase this tumbling phenomenon is the only pattern that remains. The experiments offer not only a model to use in the explanation of the causes of particular vertiginous complaints in human patients, but, furthermore, give an answer to the question of what specific illusions belong to specific vestibular end-organ lesions.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Rotation test in the weightless phase of parabolic flight.

Human test-persons and pigs were subjected to pendular swing movements during parabolic flight. The rotary-induced nystagmus frequency in pigs increased during a G-load of more than 1.5 G. In the trajectory from zero G to 1.5 G the nystagmus SPV in pigs increased. In human subjects weightlessness suppressed the rotary-induced nystagmus, and gravitational conditions over 2 G increased the nystagmus amplitude. Nystagmus responses in experienced test-persons proved to be independent of changes in G-load. The differences in the results in man and pig support the assumption that rotary-induced nystagmus is not solely a response of the cupulae and the otoliths, but is also affected by tactile and somatosensory stimulation.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Flunarizine, the vestibular system and migraine.

The vestibular function was extensively investigated in 75 patients suffering from migraine. Pathological findings were present in 62 patients (82.6%). With the exception of position nystagmus, vestibular abnormalities were not related to migraine characteristics. Fifty-six patients were treated with flunarizine 10 mg daily for three months. A favourable effect on headache was obtained in 44 patients (78.5%). Flunarizine therapy influenced significantly gaze nystagmus and position nystagmus. The latter tended to be related to anti-migraine efficacy. Other electronystagmographic parameters were not substantially influenced. The authors assume that the vestibular abnormalities in migraine are side phenomena, the clinical relevance of which, at least during the headache-free phase, is not yet well understood.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Vertigo. Current concepts in management.

Vertigo is not a disease, but a symptom. The management of vertigo requires more than the treatment of the symptom alone, as it concerns the whole physical and psychological condition of the patient. In addition to causal treatment, symptomatic treatment is needed in many cases. This specific treatment consists of vestibular exercises and drug therapy. The efficacy and use of the different drugs available are discussed.

Diuretics↗