Investigation of Pathogenesis and Otolithic Organ Responses in Sailors with Seasickness Using cVEMP

There are different theories cited as the cause of Motion Sickness. Asymmetrical otolithic organ function is one of the etiology theories of motion sickness. In our study, the aim was to reveal whether there is a cause originating from the sacculocolic reflex pathway in the physiopathology of seasickness. The patient group included 15 man sailors with diagnosis of seasickness and the control group included 15 man sailors without seasickness in our study. Cervical evoked myogenic vestibular potential (cVEMP) findings were compared between the groups. In the right and left ears of sailors with seasickness, the mean latencies of the p13 and n23 waves at 100, 95, and 90 dB normal hearing level (nHL) levels were found significantly shorter than in the control group (p < 0.05, for all). In the seasickness group, cVEMP interaural wave amplitude asymmetry ratio at 100 nHL level were found significantly higher than the control group (p = 0.001). The findings of our study indicated that there may be reasons arising rom the sacculocolic reflex pathway in the pathophysiology of seasickness.