[Comparative study of the electronystagmographic changes in multiple sclerosis and neuroallergies]

Electronystagmographic (ENG) recordings were compared in patients with multiple sclerosis (30 cases) or with an allergic diathesis (100 cases) presenting, in addition to other symptoms, disturbances in balance and vertigo. The ENG examination included: study of voluntary 10 degrees ocular movements and spontaneous ocular signs, the blinking test and pendulum tracking test, the optokinetic reactivity test, the damped pendulum giration test, and thermal tests. Absence or desynchronization of the subjective sensation of giration in relation to the true movement of the armchair was noted during the damped pendulum giration test. Optokinetic reactivity was indicative of possible optokinetic recruitment. Multiple sclerosis patients showed a higher frequency of bilateral vestibular hyperreflectivity in the thermal test whereas peripheral hypovalence was more common in allergic patients. Overall alterations were generally more marked and more stable in multiple sclerosis, more labile forms being observed in neuro-allergies. It is suggested that the mechanism of the inflammatory edematous reaction in the plaques could be similar to that of the angioneurotic edema observed in the neuro-allergic affection.