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The Oculocephalic Response in the Evaluation of the Dizzy Patient
Author(s) -
Harvey Steven A.,
Wood Douglas J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1097/00005537-199601000-00002
Subject(s) - medicine , caloric test , reflex , audiology , caloric theory , eye movement , vestibulo–ocular reflex , prospective cohort study , physical medicine and rehabilitation , surgery , nystagmus , anesthesia , ophthalmology
The oculocephalic response (OCR) is a simple office maneuver that assesses the vestibulo‐ocular reflex (VOR). An abnormal response is manifested clinically as refixation saccades following a rapid horizontal head movement. Because little attention has been given to the OCR in the literature, a prospective study was undertaken with 112 consecutive patients who presented with dizziness and underwent OCR testing followed by caloric evaluation. Agreement was good between the OCR and caloric evaluation (κ = 0.44). Specificity was quite high (97%); sensitivity was found to be less (39%). Positive (68%) and negative (90%) predictive values of the OCR illustrate that the clinician can often anticipate the results of caloric testing based on this response. This easily performed test of the VOR is a useful tool in the evaluation of the dizzy patient.