doiSerbia

Relevance of vestibulospinal tests after unilateral neurolabyrinthitis

Babić Borivoj B. (Institut za otorinolaringologiju i maksilofacijalnu hirurgiju Kliničkog centra Srbije, Beograd)

In this paper we wanted to assess clinical relevance of two vestibulospinal tests: standing test (derived from Romberg test) and past pointing test. In retrospective and prospective study 42 patients have been tested with standing test and 50 patients with past pointing test. All patients suffered from unilateral neurolabyrinthitis that had started from one day to two years prior to examination. All patients had unilateral areflexion, or hyporeflexion on caloric test using 10°C water. Control group consisted of 32 healthy individuals for both tests. Results show that both tests correctly indicate side of the lesion but only during first week of illness. Moreover, even during that first week sensitivity of both tests was below 50 %, which means that more then half results from patients fall within normal findings. We conclude that vestibulospinal tests do not deserve prominent place in assessing patients with vestibular syndrom. Conclusions must be made according to findings obtained from much more precise vestibuloocular tests.

Keywords: vestibulospinal tests, standing test, Romberg test, past pointing test