scholarly journals Bilateral Vestibular Hypofunction in the Time of the Video Head Impulse Test

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (Suppl. 1-2) ◽  
pp. 72-78
Author(s):  
Nicolás Pérez-Fernández ◽  
Laura Alvarez-Gomez ◽  
Raquel Manrique-Huarte

Objectives: Bilateral vestibulopathy is a clinical syndrome in which laboratory testing plays a crucial diagnostic role. We aimed to establish the frequency of detection of that finding in a tertiary level hospital considering the new methods of laboratory vestibular examination nowadays in use, with respect to the conventional caloric and rotatory chair test approaches. Design: Two similar time periods (5 years) were retrospectively evaluated, and the demographic, clinical data and test results from 4,576 patients were reviewed. In the first period, the diagnosis was based on caloric and rotatory chair tests and, in the second, on the video head impulse test. Results: Of the patients included, 3.77% in the first period and 4.58% in the second met the criteria for bilateral vestibular hypofunction; there was no significant difference between both periods. Conclusions: The functional vestibular evaluation to detect bilateral deficiency makes no significant difference to the number of patients diagnosed with a bilateral vestibulopathy. New diagnostic categories probably depend not only on the availability and accessibility of complete vestibular and visual-vestibular evaluation, but also on recent advances in defining vestibular disorders. Bilateral vestibular hypofunction manifests with very different patterns. Progress in more detailed definition (clinical and laboratory) is needed, in particular when all 6 semicircular canals and both maculae are available for testing.

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 285-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Castro ◽  
Sara Sena Esteves ◽  
Florencia Lerchundi ◽  
David Buckwell ◽  
Michael A. Gresty ◽  
...  

Gaze stabilization during head movements is provided by the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). Clinical assessment of this reflex is performed using the video Head Impulse Test (vHIT). To date, the influence of different fixation distances on VOR gain using the vHIT has not been explored. We assessed the effect of target proximity on the horizontal VOR using the vHIT. Firstly, we assessed the VOR gain in 18 healthy subjects with 5 viewing target distances (150, 40, 30, 20, and 10 cm). The gain increased significantly as the viewing target distance decreased. A second experiment on 10 subjects was performed in darkness whilst the subjects were imagining targets at different distances. There were significant inverse relationships between gain and distance for both the real and the imaginary targets. There was a statistically significant difference between light and dark gains for the 20- and 40-cm distances, but not for the 150-cm distance. Theoretical VOR gains for different target distances were calculated and compared with those found in light and darkness. The increase in gain observed for near targets was lower than predicted by geometrical calculations, implying a physiological ceiling effect on the VOR. The VOR gain in the dark, as assessed with the vHIT, demonstrates an enhancement associated with a reduced target distance.


2015 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Eza-Nuñez ◽  
C Fariñas-Alvarez ◽  
N Perez Fernandez

AbstractObjectives:This study aimed to evaluate the results of the video head impulse test and of the caloric and rotatory chair tests in patients with dizziness. Agreement between test results was assessed and the best protocol for detecting peripheral vestibulopathy was identified.Methods:Participants comprised 116 patients, 75 with a peripheral vestibulopathy and 41 with non-peripheral vestibulopathy. The main outcome measures were classified as normal or abnormal according to our laboratory data.Results:Agreement between tests was low. Vestibulopathy testing that required all three results to be abnormal had a sensitivity of 0.547, a specificity of 0.878, and positive and negative predictive values of 0.891 and 0.514, respectively. Vestibulopathy testing that required just one result to be abnormal had a sensitivity of 0.933, a specificity of 0.292, and positive and negative predictive values of 0.701 and 0.705, respectively.Conclusion:In peripheral vestibulopathy, there was weak concordance in the assessment of horizontal semicircular canal function among the different tests. However, the video head impulse test had sufficient statistical power to be recommended as the first-line test.


2020 ◽  
pp. 014556132096259
Author(s):  
Zeynep Onerci Altunay ◽  
Haluk Ozkarakas

Objective: To compare video head impulse test (vHIT) and caloric test efficacy in decompensated and compensated vertigo patients and to further investigate whether vHIT alone can be used as a diagnostic tool in vertigo. Methods: This study included 25 patients diagnosed with vertigo and without any previous history of vertigo or hearing loss before their admission to our clinic. The control group consisted of 16 healthy adult volunteers. Patients were classified into 2 groups, compensated and decompensated. Video head impulse test and caloric tests were performed and the results were compared between the groups. Results: The difference of caloric test values between control-compensated groups and compensated-decompensated groups was statistically significant ( P < .001, Pearson χ2). However, there was no statistically significant difference between the compensated and control groups according to vHIT gain asymmetry values ( P = .087). In the very early stages of the disease with spontaneous nystagmus, the diagnostic significance of vHIT was similar to that of the caloric test. When both sides were compared, vHIT gain asymmetry values were close to the caloric test asymmetry values. In the compensated stage, caloric test was superior to vHIT in differentiating compensated vestibular pathologies. When vHIT sensitivity was evaluated according to the bi-thermal caloric test results, the sensitivity of the vHIT gain asymmetry value was 85.71% and 23.08% for decompensated and compensated patients respectively. Conclusion: In the early decompensated stages of the disease with spontaneous nystagmus, vHIT shows similar diagnostic accuracy to that of the caloric test. Since patients can tolerate vHIT more easily, our results suggest that vHIT can be considered as a primary evaluation method in the early (decompensated) period of the disease and should be preferred over the caloric test during the acute phase. Caloric test is more reliable at the compensated stage. Video head impulse test is inadequate in evaluating the compensated vestibular hypofunctional states after compensation has been restored. Level of Evidence: Level 2b


Author(s):  
ERCAN KARABABA ◽  
Hacı Hüseyin DERE ◽  
Banu MÜJDECİ ◽  
Erkan KARATAŞ

Purpose: Vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) may be helpful in the diagnosis of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). Video Head Impulse Test (vHIT) can effectively diagnose VOR deficits in vestibular disorders. Aims: The aim of this study is to investigate the significance of vHIT in determining the efficacy of therapeutic maneuvers in individuals with posterior semicircular canal BPPV. Materials and Methods: The study included 25 patients with posterior SCC BPPV (Study Group) between the ages of 19-65 years, 30 healthy individuals (Control Group). All individuals underwent otorhinolaryngologic examination, audiological evaluation with, videonystagmography and vHIT. The Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were administered to the individuals with posterior SCC BPPV for the intensity of dizziness and Modified Epley maneuver was performed 3 times at an interval of 3 days. The vHIT, DHI and VAS were re-administered to these individuals 1 week after improvement was detected in positional nystagmus. Results: There was no significant difference between the study and control groups in terms of vHIT gains for all bilateral SCCs before therapeutic maneuver (p>0.05). In the study group, there was no significant difference between vHIT gains of all bilateral SSCs before and after therapeutic maneuvers (p>0.05). No asymmetry or refixation saccades (overt and covert) were observed in any of the individuals in both groups during all measurements. Compared to before therapeutic maneuvers, there was a significant decrease in dizziness-related disability level assessed by DHI and intensity of dizziness assessed by VAS in the study group after the improvement (p<0.001). Conclusion: It was found that vHIT was not a diagnostic test in BPPV and in terms of evaluating the efficacy of therapeutic maneuvers. Subjective evaluations determining the intensity of dizziness and level of dizziness-related disability in BPPV provided supportive information in diagnosis and in determining the efficacy of therapeutic maneuvers.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document