[Galvanic labyrinth stimulation--medical history aspects]. / Die galvanische Labyrinthreizung--medizinhistorische Aspekte.

The reaction of the vestibular system to a galvanic stimulus was described for the first time by Purkinje in 1820. The vertiginous response that could be elicited was experimentally and clinically investigated by neurologists in the following years. In the fifties of this century, the method was included into neurotological diagnostics. The main objection was to use it in the differential diagnosis of cerebellopontine angle (CPA) lesions. After imaging procedures, such as computerised tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, were introduced, galvanic testing is nowadays only used as part of the test battery of cochlear implant candidates to differentiate between a peripheral or retrolabyrinthine vestibular lesion.