It is uncertain whether clinically useful information of otolith function can be well characterized by vestibular-evoked-myogenic-potentials (VEMPs), i.e., electromyogenic activity recorded from sternomastoid muscles in response to brief loud auditory clicks. We aimed to assess the utility of VEMP testing in the differential diagnosis of dizziness (81 dizzy patients, 12 normals). We found that: (1) VEMP was reliably elicited from all controls and from 96% of patients without loss of vestibular function; (2) in patients with documented unilateral peripheral vestibular disorders, VEMP could reveal loss of otolith function that usefully facilitated diagnoses; and (3) such otolith function loss was independent of canal function loss revealed by caloric testing. We conclude that the VEMP-test is clinically useful to assess vestibular (otolith and/or inferior vestibular nerve) function, providing information complementary to that obtained from caloric testing (horizontal semicircular canal and/or superior vestibular nerve function).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.80345 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Ostrovska, Alexsandra |
| Contributors | Katsarkas, A. (advisor), Segal, B. (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 Otolaryngology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002141434, proquestno: AAIMQ98714, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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