Influence of Age on Caloric Response

In an aging society, the number of patients suffering from vertigo and dizziness is increasing. Vertigo is mostly thought to occur owing to otorhinolaryngologic disease. In contrast, it is difficult to diagnose dizziness, because of its varied causes, and we believe that the number of elderly patients suffering from dizziness is increasing. Here, we evaluated the relationship between canal paralysis and symptoms at the first medical examination and age-related changes in caloric response, and obtained the following 3 main findings: (a) 41.3% of the patients with canal paralysis complained of dizziness at the first medical examination, with an increased tendency in patients aged >70 years; (b) the slow-phase eye velocity (SPEV) of patients aged >70 years was lower than that of patients aged ≤69 years, and the SPEV of patients complaining of vertigo was higher than that of patients who complained of dizziness during a caloric test, and (c) the percentage of patients complaining of dizziness and those not complaining of symptoms during a caloric test increased with age. In conclusion, patients with canal paralysis tend to complain of dizziness at the first medical examination, and the percentage of patients without vertigo during a caloric test increased with age.