Otolith Function Tests in Patients with Orthostatic Dizziness / 대한평형의학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Orthostatic dizziness (OD) is defined as when dizziness is provoked by standing up from a supine or sitting position. It is usually considered as being associated with orthostatic hypotension (OH). On the other hand, it is recently suggested that otolith organ dysfunction and impaired vestibulosympathetic reflex may account for development of OH and OD. Vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) and subjective visual vertical and horizontal tests (SVV/SVH) are tools for detecting otolith organ dysfunction. We assessed cervical VEMP (cVEMP) and SVV/SVH test results in the patients with OD to evaluate the relationship between OD and otolith organ function. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three hundred-eighty-seven patients who visited dizziness clinic were enrolled in this study. Seventy-three patients presented with OD (i.e., group O), while 314 patients did not present OD (i.e., group N). Vestibular function tests including cVEMP and SVV/SVH were performed. RESULTS: cVEMP showed abnormal response in 47.9% of group O and 60.2% of group N. Abnormal SVV was found in 35.6% of group O and 31.5% of group N. Abnormal SVH was highly found in both group O and group N (30.1%, 27.1%). CONCLUSION: The values of SVV/SVH and cVEMP abnormality from both groups were not significantly different between the groups O and N. This finding suggests that otolithic function may not be related with OD.