Clinical Usefulness of VEMP(Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential) in the Evaluation of Dizzy Patients / 대한이비인후과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Click-evoked myogenic potentials have been used as a clinical test of the vestibulospinal reflex (VSR) and a complementary test for determining the lesion site. But there have not been clear diagnostic criteria for the VEMP test, so its use has been limited. We compared the parameters of VEMP among the normal and vestibulopathy patients and clarified the diagnostic value of each parameter. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared the results of VEMP conducted in 14 healthy volunteers and 35 patients who had been diagnosed with unilateral vestibulopathy by the vestibular function test (VFT). As parameters of VEMP, latency, amplitude and interlatency were compared between the two groups. We got positive findings of VEMP according to each parameter. RESULTS: Twenty-four percent of the patients showed normal VEMP findings, but seventy-five percent of that patients showed abnormal findings. Absent VEMP formation, prolonged latency, especially p13, and decreased amplitude (increased VEMP asymmetry) were shown in significant proportions of the patients. CONCLUSION: VEMP is a clinically complementary diagnostic method of VFT for dizzy patients. Prolonged peak latency and increased VEMP asymmetry are diagnostically valuable in the evaluation of that test.