Dynamic posture assessment in patients with peripheral vestibulopathy

To assess the effects on balance of different strategies to create sensory conflict.

Two different systems of dynamic posturography were compared: computerized dynamic posturography and a static platform on which different visual and support conditions were used. The study was performed in 127 patients with dizziness of a peripheral vestibular origin.

When patients stood on a foam support surface, the length and area of the center-of-pressure excursions increased. Interestingly, optokinetic stimulation evoked a longer length and a wider area of the center-of-pressure excursions in patients with a combined vestibular and visual deficit pattern than when they kept their eyes closed. This was opposite to the effect observed in patients with a pattern indicative of a vestibular deficit alone.

The effects of visual stimulation on balance in patients with unilateral vestibulopathy reflect the type of sensory deficit, and can be considered to be specific to such a deficit.