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Results for “VESTIBULAR FUNCTION TESTS”

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At least 703 records · Page 39Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

[Therapy of vestibular vertigo].

The non-surgical treatment of vestibular disorders must be based on current knowledge of vestibular pathophysiology. It is generally accepted that after vestibular lesions a self-repair mechanism exists that allows a more or less complete recovery. In cases of persisting vestibular complaints the physician's duty consists in stimulation of these pre-existing mechanisms. This can be done by physical exercises, as has been recommended since the work of Cawthorne and Cooksey in 1946. This concept is meanwhile supported by modern neurophysiological research. This article describes a short training program consisting of exercises for fixation during rotations, smooth pursuit, optokinetic nystagmus and motor learning mechanisms. Physical exercises can be reinforced by nootropic drugs.

Dominance, Cerebral↗
PubMed1993

[Clinical evaluation of otolithic function by the measurement of ocular cyclotorsion and skew deviation].

The ocular tilt reaction (OTR) consists in an association of an eye-head postural reaction, alteration of vertical perception, conjugated eye cyclotorsion, skew deviation and head tilt. We observed this condition following unilateral vestibular neurectomy and labyrinthectomy performed in patients suffering from severe Meniere's disease. All patients described postoperative vertical diplopia and vertical perception tilt. One illustrative case is reported in detail here. Changes in visual vertical were measured using a vertical frame with a pivoting pointer and the Maddox rod calibrated with a spirit level. The actual eye torsion was measured by a photography of eye-fundus. In the follow-up, it was found that vertical diplopia disappeared within a few days while conjugated eye cyclotorsion lasted weeks to months. Mechanisms involved in the OTR could be the consequence of a unilateral deafferentation of the utricular and saccular organs. We feel that the techniques of examination which we used with this patient might be a useful measurement for the clinical evaluation of unilateral otolithic dysfunction.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The recovery of static vestibular function following peripheral vestibular lesions in mammals: the intrinsic mechanism hypothesis.

This theoretical paper describes the "intrinsic mechanism hypothesis," a new hypothesis of vestibular compensation, the behavioral recovery that follows unilateral deafferentation of the vestibular labyrinth (UVD). The most salient characteristic of vestibular compensation is the decrease in the severity of the static ocular motor and postural symptoms that follow UVD, associated with a recovery of resting activity in the ipsilateral vestibular nucleus complex (VNC). The speed of static compensation in some mammalian species (for example, cat) has suggested that reactive synaptogenesis is an unlikely explanation because it is too slow. Other, more rapid mechanisms, such as denervation supersensitivity, receptor-up-regulation, or increased neurotransmitter release, were reasonable possibilities. However, to date, each study that has addressed these possibilities has failed to find any change that could account for the recovery of VNC resting activity. The search for such "substitutive" mechanisms was based on the hypothesis that something other than the VNC neurons themselves would have to "replace" the missing resting activity that the ipsilateral vestibular nerve normally provides. However, brainstem slice studies demonstrate that, at least in vitro, VNC neurons do not need the vestibular nerve in order to generate resting activity. On the basis of these and other considerations, we suggest that following a brief calcium-induced diaschisis, VNC neurons ipsilateral to the UVD reactivate the intrinsic membrane properties that normally contribute to their resting activity in vivo, and that this recovery of resting activity accounts for static vestibular compensation.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Objective identification of dizzy patients by vestibulo-ocular and vestibulospinal testing.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate how well two new objective tests of vestibular function might help identify truly dizzy patients. DESIGN: A prospective study of dizzy patients. SETTING: Department of Otolaryngology, Sir Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec. METHODS: Vestibular function (in 39 dizziness clinic patients and 30 normals) was characterized as follows: 1. While subjects sat on a rotatable chair trying to look at a wall target, vestibulo-ocular function was quantified by accuracy of ocular stabilization during brief chair turns imposed during 1-second periods of darkness. 2. While subjects stood feet together rotating their head and torso together from the knees, vestibulospinal function was quantified by the fastest comfortable torsal-head movement made without exacerbating dizziness. RESULTS: After plotting ocular stabilization accuracy against fastest comfortable torsal-head velocity, patients and normals tended to separate into two groups. Statistical analysis permitted most dizzy patients (sensitivity: 87%), and most normals (specificity: 83%) to be identified. CONCLUSION: Results are promising, since approximately 40% of patients had no abnormal vestibular signs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

[Epileptic vertiginous seizure in a Japanese boy: a case report].

Dizziness in childhood is not an infrequent symptom, but epileptic vertigo is a rare condition in children. Here we report an 8-year-old Japanese boy with epileptic vertiginous seizures. At age 8 years, he visited Nippon Medical School Hospital because of a ten day history of dizziness. The dizziness occurred more than twenty times a day and he was hospitalized. On physical examination, the patient appeared normal and there were no abnormal neurological findings, including eye movement and cerebellar signs. Ophthalmoscopy, otoscopy, vestibular function test and hearing test were normal. Computerized tomography scanning and MR imaging of the head revealed no significant abnormality. The dizziness observed on admission comprised sudden brief attacks of rotatory sensation without amnesia regarding the event. Sometimes the attacks were accompanied by tremor like movement and numbness of the right hand, followed by postictal unsteadiness. Interictal EEG revealed spike-and-wave complexes in the central region dominantly in the light sleep stage. On ictal EEG, seizure discharges were observed to begin in the left central region and they increased in amplitude and subsequently propagated to the frontal and occipital regions. These findings were most suggestive of partial seizures. The patient was treated with carbamazepine and the seizures became well under control.

Anticonvulsants↗
PubMed1997

Cerebellopontine angle meningiomas with primary otologic symptoms.

The majority of cerebellopontine angle (CPA) tumors are acoustic neuromas (AN). However, an intracranial meningioma may occur at this site and will produce symptoms similar to an AN. The most common presenting symptoms of CPA meningiomas are hearing loss, tinnitus, dizziness and dysequilibrium. It cannot be easily distinquished from an AN only on the history and physical examination. Even with an audiogram, evoked response audiometry (ERA) and vestibular function tests, it still cannot be distinquished. CT scan and MRI are helpful in differentiating these two tumors radiographically. In this article, we report two cases of CPA meningiomas which presented with otologic symptoms. The diagnosis and treatment of CPA meningioma is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

The effects of rotation on spatial attention.

Unilateral spatial neglect can be reduced by cold water caloric stimulation of the contralesional ear. Three hypotheses may account for this response. Caloric stimulation may increase the arousal of the damaged hypoaroused hemisphere. Moving stimuli to ipsilesional space improves the performance of patients with neglect. Caloric stimulation may move viewer-centered spatial maps in an ipsilesional direction. Unilateral neglect may be related to a spatial attentional bias. Vestibular stimulation may temporarily influence this bias. To learn if vestibular stimulation may induce an attentional spatial bias, the authors studied eight normal subjects by having these subjects attempt to bisect lines before and during vestibular stimulation. If caloric stimulation alters neglect because it changes the attentional spatial bias, the authors should be able to induce neglect in normal subjects by pertubating the vestibular system. Vestibular stimulation was induced by spinning a chair and then abruptly stopping the spinning chair. The authors found that after normal subjects were rotated to the left, they misbisected lines to the left but did not misbisect lines after they were rotated to the right. Although these results support the postulate that vestibular stimulation can induce an attentional spatial bias, the authors' results also suggest that there are intrinsic attentional asymmetries.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Equilibrium disorders in childhood].

Dizziness and imbalance are uncommon in children, but often alarming for their families. A detailed interview and otoneurological examination are important for reaching a specific diagnosis and treatment. The purpose of our study was to obtain our own etiological, clinical and diagnostic statistics, and to review the major related pathologies. We report a series of 76 children with imbalance or dizziness as the presenting symptom. Paroxysmal benign vertigo of childhood was the most common pathology in our study, followed by vestibular neuronitis. Our findings were compared to those of other authors. Early diagnosis is emphasized as the most important factor for achieving an effective vestibular rehabilitation in children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

[Changes in vestibular function and furosemide test after experimental endolymphatic hydrops in guinea pigs].

The present study reports a successful anial model of endolymphatic hydrops (EH) in guinea pigs (n = 48) through a surgical obliteration of the endolymphatic sac and duct. Electronystagmography was calibrated by optokinetic nystagmus. During the formation of EH the vestibular functions (n = 16) were dynamically observed by ratation test. After eight weeks (n = 25) the furosemide tests with different doses were carried out by sinusoidal angular acceleration test. The results showed that the excitability of vestibular function in the operated ears was enhanced for the first week after operation, and then declined. At the eighth week it was significantly improved after intravenous injection of furosemide at the clinical equivalent dose level (1.25 mg/kg). The present results strongly support the usefulness of furosemide test in the diagnosis of EH. The possible mechanisms of its effect are discussed.

Animals↗