Stepping test was performed in 50 patients with Meniere's disease. The test was carried out during the initial stage of the attack of Meniere's disease in which positional nystagmus was observed, and also the test was carried out during the final stage of the attack in which positional nystagmus was no more observed.
In spite of author's expectation, 26 patients (52%) showed lower deviation rate in stepping test during the period in which positional nystagmus was observed, and 12 patients (24%) showed higher deviation rate in the same period as compared with the results during the period in which the nystagmus was no more observed.
The results from other 12 ptients (24%) were anable to compare because they showed almost similar deviation rate, or different direction in deviation during and after the nystagmus.
The former group of 26 patients (52%) had visited our clinic 1 or 2 days after they suffered from the attack of Meniere's disease. The middle group of 12 patients (24%) had visited our clinic more than 8 days after the attack. Irritable nystagmus was observed in 45 % of patients of the former group, and 17% in the middle group. 69% of patients in the former group showed normal value in rotation angle (under 30°) in stepping test.
The disturbances in the inner ear of the patient with Meniere's disease are most active during the attack in which spontaneous nystagmus is observed most frequently, so that it is thought that abnormal vestibulo-spinal reflex will be observed most frequently during the attack, but our findings revealed that abnormal vestibulo-spinal reflex was not seen so frequently during the period in which the spontaneous nystagmus was dominant, and that the abnormal reflex increased after the nystagmus was abolished.
The existance of inhibitory mechanism between the vestibulo-spinal and vestibuloocular tract was considered to explain the above mentioned findings.
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