Abstract
Eight infants with profound sensorineural hearing loss were studied for the development of gross motor function, and classified into two types by recordings of the damped rotation test on ENG. One group included four patients with normal vestibular reflex and the other four with poor vestibular reflex. Each patient was assessed by four major items of gross motor function, comprising 30 minor items, and 10 minor items of fine motor function.
All patients with poor vestibular function revealed a delay of the development from two to eight months in each item of gross motor function and a slight delay in each item of fine motor function. However, all delays of gross motor function were developed by two years of age. On the other hand, all patients with normal vestibular function showed normal development of gross and fine motor functions.
Our study demonstrated that gross motor function in young infants with labyrinth-hypoacctivity would be delayed, and that such delays would be acquired at least until two years of age. The mechanism of acquisition of motor function in these patients may depend on other spinal tracts that are controlled by the central nervous system.
