VEMP: An Objective Test for Diagnosing the Cases of BPPV

Vertigo is a medical condition where a person feels as if they or the objects around them are moving when they are not. Any disturbance in the functioning of vestibular organ may cause vertigo. This study aims to find the role of cervical Vestibular evoked myogenic potential in diagnosing BPPV. The study performed was a prospective study of 50 patients with the age distribution from 20 to 60 years of age, attending the OPD in ENT department of MY Hospital, Indore with complaints of Vertigo. c-VEMP test was performed. The results were evaluated to diagnose BPPV. Of all the patients with the complaints of vertigo maximum belonged to the 5th decade of life. Of all the patients, females were found to be affected more than males making the male female ratio to be 1:1.28. In our study Dix-Hallpike test was found to be positive in 38 (74%) patients. On performing cervical VEMP, 15 (30%) patients of 50 patients showed abnormal latencies and amplitudes suggesting abnormal saccular functioning on affected side. Of these 15 abnormal VEMPs, 13 patients were positive on performing Dix-Hallpike test i.e. were diagnosed to have BPPV. VEMP showed a positive correlation with Dix-Hallpike test in diagnosis of vertigo of postural origin and thus can be used as a diagnostic tool for BPPV as VEMP is found to have high specificity.