Effect of late-onset blindness on cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials

Approximately 1.3 billion people worldwide have vision impairment. The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of Late-Onset blindness on cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMP) responses. Accordingly, this study was performed to investigate and compare the parameters of the cVEMP test in sighted and late-onset blind individuals.

In this cross-sectional- comparative study, cVEMP was recorded by presenting a tone burst stimulus of 500 Hz with an intensity of 95 dBnHL in 20 sighted and 20 late-onset blind individuals aged between 18 and 30 years old.

cVEMP was observed in all the individuals (100%). The average latency of P₁₃ and N₂₃, amplitude, amplitude ratio, and VEMP threshold did not differ significantly between the two groups (p > 0.05).

The findings of the study revealed that the formation of the neural pathway and reflex arch of cVEMP is similar between late-onset blind and sighted individuals. Thus, cVEMP can be a suitable test for assessing the vestibular function of late-onset blind people.