Correlation between subjective visual horizontal test and ocular vestibular-evoked myogenic potential test

Area of Science:

• Vestibular Neuroscience
• Ophthalmology
• Audiology

Background:

• The vestibular system's function is crucial for balance and spatial orientation.
• Vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) and subjective visual horizontal (SVH) tests are used to assess vestibular function.
• Understanding the relationship between different vestibular tests can improve diagnostic accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To correlate static subjective visual horizontal (SVH) test results with ocular vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (oVEMP) and cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP) tests.
• To investigate the shared neural pathways between these vestibular assessment methods.
• To determine the optimal stimulation mode for the SVH test.

Main Methods:

• Twenty healthy subjects and 20 patients with unilateral Meniere's disease participated.
• The SVH test was performed at 70° horizontal tilt with background distraction to determine the optimal mode.
• oVEMP and cVEMP tests were conducted on all participants.

Main Results:

• The optimal SVH test mode was established using healthy subjects.
• In Meniere's disease patients, 40% showed abnormal SVH results.
• SVH test results showed a significant correlation with oVEMP results, but not with cVEMP results.

Conclusions:

• The static subjective visual horizontal (SVH) test correlates with the dynamic ocular vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (oVEMP) test.
• This correlation suggests that both tests may utilize the same utricular reflex pathway.
• Findings support the use of SVH and oVEMP tests in evaluating vestibular function, particularly related to the utricle.