Postural function and subjective eye level in patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus

Disturbance of posture is a frequent indication of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) and is characterised by an increased sway in the frontal and sagittal planes. Further, iNPH patients with increased backward sway are known to have a defective perception of the subjective visual vertical (SVV), with the upper portion of an articulated rod tilted towards themselves. The objective of the present study was to compare subjective eye level (SEL) with actual eye level (EL) and compare this data with SVV and postural function. Twenty iNPH patients and ten normal controls estimated SEL by placing an adjustable horizontal line at EL. Sway pattern and SVV were also examined as previously described. The patients presented larger errors on downward as compared to upward line adjustments; all patients also presented a SVV tilted towards them. The patients swayed more in the sagittal than in the frontal plane at a higher speed than the normal controls, and they were relatively less helped by their vision. This is in accordance with the tendency to fall backwards seen in many iNPH patients. iNPH patients have a tendency to place SEL higher than EL and this, together with examination of SVV and sway pattern, suggests defective internal processing of gravicentric information.