[Effect of hyperventilation on the vestibular system]

Nineteen normal subjects with no past history of hearing or balance impairment have undergone an electronystagmogram (E.N.G.), according to the usual technique in our laboratory. About one month or more after this first test, they underwent a second E.N.G. but this time with periods of hyperventilation distributed at certain precise moments of the test. Our analyses have not demonstrated that hyperventilation causes nystagmus or enhances in preexisting nystagmus in normal subjects, although the changes in the positional test were close to being significant.