Clinical value of the video head impulse test in patients with vestibular neuritis: a systematic review

The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the clinical application potential of the video head impulse test (vHIT) in diagnosing vestibular neuritis (VN).

An electronic search was conducted in the following databases: Embase, MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, Google scholar, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Clinical studies were included in which an evaluation was made using vHIT either alone or in combination with other tests or bedside algorithms. Evaluations that were carried out using unvalidated tools were excluded. Only studies of patients with VN (superior, inferior, or in toto) were included. Screening of titles, abstracts, full texts, and data extraction were undertaken independently by pairs of reviewers. Included studies were quality appraised using a modified version of the Newcastle-Ottawa scale.

Results were reported according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Our search yielded 1309 unique records, 21 of which remained after screening titles and abstracts. Sixteen studies were included, i.e., for a total of 933 patients including 474 patients with a diagnosis of VN.

The diagnostic value of vHIT is high for VN, as it is a high-frequency measurement tool. vHIT is a useful complement or alternative to caloric and rotational tests as an indicator of lesions of vestibular canal functioning, especially at the time of onset. This tool can provide useful clues about the clinical progress of recovery from the lesion through the value of the vestibulo ocular reflex gain and the consequent evolution of the saccade pattern, which allows the patient to stabilize vision on the retina.