Oculomotor pathology in Menière's disease

In this study data of voluntary eye movements 62 patients (mean age was 49.6 years) with Meniere's disease and 38 healthy control subjects were examined. Pseudo-random smooth pursuit (PRPEM) tests were conducted with frequency combination of 0.25 and 0.425 Hz. Saccades at constant targets and pseudo-randomly shifting targets were evaluated. In logistic regression analysis constant saccades correctly classified the cases in 57% as saccadic latency discriminating the groups best, latency being longer in Meniere group. In pseudo-random saccades, correct classification was achieved in 75.4% of all cases as latency discriminating the groups best, and latency was longer in Meniere group. In PRPEM, correct classification was achieved in 65.3% of all cases as gain by amplitude (GA), discriminating the groups best, and GA was smaller in Meniere group. Pseudo-random saccade test is a demanding task and that may explain why a peripheral vestibular lesion may interfere visual tracking and scanning performance. Latency is the most vulnerable of parameters to be lesioned. Results indicate that a peripheral vestibular lesion influences the control of voluntary eye movements and may explain the complaints of visual targeting on objects that patients with Meniere's disease have.