Open AccessRelevance of vestibulospinal tests after unilateral neurolabyrinthitis
Author(s) -
Benjamin Babic
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
srpski arhiv za celokupno lekarstvo
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.135
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 2406-0895
pISSN - 0370-8179
DOI - 10.2298/sarh0304143b
Subject(s) - medicine , test (biology) , caloric test , caloric theory , posturography , vestibular system , physical medicine and rehabilitation , clinical significance , audiology , physical therapy , paleontology , biology
In this paper we wanted to assess clinical relevance of two vestibulospinal tests: standing test (derived from Romberg test) and past pointing test. In retrospective and prospective study 42 patients have been tested with standing test and 50 patients with past pointing test. All patients suffered from unilateral neurolabyrinthitis that had started from one day to two years prior to examination. All patients had unilateral areflexion, or hyporeflexion on caloric test using 10 degrees C water. Control group consisted of 32 healthy individuals for both tests. Results show that both tests correctly indicate side of the lesion but only during first week of illness. Moreover, even during that first week sensitivity of both tests was below 50%, which means that more then half results from patients fall within normal findings. We conclude that vestibulospinal tests do not deserve prominent place in assessing patients with vestibular syndrome. Conclusions must be made according to findings obtained from much more precise vestibuloocular tests.