There exists no adequate objective measure of vestibular function and consequently clinicians cannot easily estimate degree of vestibular dysfunction or dizziness. This study aimed to evaluate new objective measures of vestibular function by determining (1) how these measures relate to subjective clinical estimates of vestibular function and (2) whether these measures can identify patients with true vestibular dizziness. / Net $ {$slow-phase + saccadic$ }$ gaze stabilization and active comfortable torsal-head rotation were used to objectively characterize vestibulo-ocular and vestibulospinal function, respectively, in 39 dizzy patients and 30 normals. Blinded clinical ranking of apparent vestibular function of the patients was obtained from history and clinical examination. / It was found (1) that clinical rankings were significantly correlated (r$ rm sb{s}$:0.39, p $<$ 0.02) to a new objective parameter based on both vestibulo-ocular and vestibulospinal measures, and (2) that an objective measure of both vestibulo-ocular and vestibulospinal function permitted most dizzy patients and normal subjects to be identified (sensitivity: 87%, specificity: 83%).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.22732 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Creators | Fuoco, Gabriel |
| Contributors | Segal, Bernard (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Physiology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001453787, proquestno: MM05553, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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