Abstract
The aim of this study is to characterize the patients with a bilateral severe impairment of the vestibular function based on the lesion sites. Fifty-five patients with severe or complete canal paresis in a caloric test were tested using pure tone audiometry (PTA), stabilometry, eye tracking test (ETT) and vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) in the department of otorhinolaryngology, Kyushu University Hospital. Central disorders induced a more saccadic pattern in ETT, more severe instability in stabilometry and a better level of hearing than those of other disorders. Impairments of the inner ear led to a higher Romberg's rate in stabilometry and a poorer response in VEMP than those with other disorders. The patients with drug-induced bilateral vestibular loss had more complaints of dizziness than that of other disorders. These results suggest that it may be possible to predict the site of such lesion based on the symptoms, PTA, stabilometry, ETT and VEMP.
