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Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials in multiple sclerosis patients
Maurizio Versino1, Silvia Colnaghi, Roberto Callieco
1Dipartimento Sciencze Neurologiche Università di Pavia, Pavia, Italy. mversino@unipv.it
Summary
Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) can help detect brainstem dysfunction in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. This study found VEMPs to be a useful complementary neurophysiological tool for evaluating MS-related brainstem issues.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Clinical Neurophysiology
- Neurology
Background:
- Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) assess saccular function via sternocleidomastoid muscle responses to acoustic stimuli.
- Multiple sclerosis (MS) can affect brainstem and cerebellar pathways, leading to various neurological symptoms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the utility of VEMPs in evaluating patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).
- To compare VEMP findings with clinical data and other neurophysiological tests in MS patients.
Main Methods:
- VEMPs were recorded in 70 MS patients.
- Clinical data regarding brainstem/cerebellar symptoms and signs were retrospectively analyzed.
- Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs), saccadic eye movements, and subjective visual vertical (SVV) were assessed in subsets of patients.
Main Results:
- Abnormalities were found in 31% of VEMPs, 38% of BAEPs, and 21% of SVV tests.
- Saccadic eye movements indicated possible brainstem dysfunction in 44.4% of patients.
- BAEPs showed higher abnormality rates in patients with clinical brainstem/cerebellar signs associated with dizziness.
Conclusions:
- VEMPs are a valuable supplementary neurophysiological method for assessing brainstem dysfunction in MS.
- The findings support the use of VEMPs in the comprehensive evaluation of neurological deficits in MS patients.