Test-Retest Reliability of Tone Burst-Induced 500 Hz Air-Conduction Masseter Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential in Healthy Individuals.

Background and Objectives: : Masseter vestibular evoked myogenic potential (mVEMP) is a newly developed tool which is used to assess the vestibulo-trigeminal neural and saccular functioning pathways. Recently, this test was added to a full test battery for evaluating the brainstem of people with neurological disorders and other vestibular diseases. For any test to qualify as a standard test, the test must have high reliability across all testing windows. Hence, the present study focused on validating the reliability of mVEMP in a large population. Subjects and Methods: : The study included 50 healthy participants with normal hearing. All the participants were tested using mVEMP and underwent retest within a month after the initial test. All parameters (latencies, peak-to-peak amplitude, asymmetric ratio) were observed for both sessions. To determine the statistically significant differences between and across the sessions, non-parametric tests such as Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used. Results: : The test-retest reliability of all parameters were observed. The reliability was fair-to-good for P11 and N21 latencies. The other parameters showed less significance. There were no significant differences in sex and ear comparisons between and across the sessions. Conclusions: : Our study demonstrated that the mVEMP is a reliable test which can be used to assess peripheral vestibular system dysfunction and neurological conditions.

Decoding Age-Linked Masseter Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential Changes in Healthy, Aging Individuals.

PURPOSE: The primary objective of this study was to assess how age influences masseter vestibular evoked myogenic potential (mVEMP) parameters by utilizing 500-Hz tone burst stimuli delivered through air conduction. METHOD: The study involved 110 participants ranging from 15 to 60 years of age, grouped into five categories, all of whom had no previous issues related to their vestibular system. The participants were exposed to 500-Hz tone burst stimuli at 125 dB SPL through ER-3A inserts. These stimuli were presented to one ear at a time, with alternating polarity. A Tukey's honestly significant difference test was conducted to compare rectified and unrectified amplitude, along with latencies (P11 and N21) and the asymmetric ratio across all age groups. Additionally, a multivariate analysis of variance was performed to assess the impact of sex on the study variables. RESULTS: All 110 participants (220 ears) in the study provided mVEMP responses, encompassing 100% of the subjects. The results revealed a significant reduction in both amplitude and latency extension for the P11 and N21 peaks. Interestingly, P11 latency was also prolonged in the youngest participants (Group 1), suggesting ongoing maturation of the system even beyond the age of 16 years. Moreover, a significant sex difference was observed in the P11 latencies. However, there were no substantial sex differences (p > .05) in N1 peak latency, peak-to-peak amplitude, rectified amplitude, and asymmetric ratio. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in structure occur due to degeneration, and the quantity of vestibular sensory hair cells gradually diminishes with age. The rate of decline is faster in semicircular canals compared to end organs, as observed by Merchant et al. (2000). Following a linear degeneration starting at the age of 40 years, a continuous reduction in sensory cells and primary neurons takes place until approximately 40% of vestibular sensory cells are lost by the age of 75 years and insufficient maturation can lead to prolonged peaks and reduced amplitudes compared with those that are considered normal. Therefore, it is crucial to consider the age of the participants when making diagnoses and incorporate relevant correction factors based on age-related reference data.

Outcomes of cVEMP and oVEMP in Individuals with Tinnitus and Normal Hearing.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study is to find the functions of vestibular reflexes in individuals' with normal hearing and tinnitus, to identify vestibular dysfunctions earlier, and helps with the management of the same. METHOD: The present study aimed to administer cVEMP and oVEMP to all the participants having a normal hearing with tinnitus (experimental group) and without tinnitus (Control group) and compared p13, n23 latencies and peak-to-peak amplitude of cVEMP; n10, p15 latencies of oVEMP and peak-to-peak amplitude between two groups and within tinnitus group. RESULTS: The present study stated that there is no statistically significant difference seen in cVEMP except n23 latency of bilateral tinnitus than control group. However, there is statistically significant difference in left ear p15 latency, left ear peak-to-peak amplitude, bilateral peak-to-peak amplitude between the two groups and Right Vs Left ear peak-to-peak amplitude in within the tinnitus group was seen in oVEMP. T-test was used to compare the latencies of p13, n23, and peak-to-peak amplitude of cVEMP and n10, p15 latencies and peak-to-peak amplitude of oVEMP between the experimental and control group and within the tinnitus group. CONCLUSION: There is no significant difference seen in cVEMP except n23 latency of bilateral tinnitus than control group and However, there is statistically significant difference in left ear p15 latency, left ear peak-to-peak amplitude, bilateral peak-to-peak amplitude between the two groups and Right Vs Left ear peak-to-peak amplitude in within the tinnitus group was seen in oVEMP and the current study concluded that the significant results with several parameters and no significant results with other parameters in cVEMP and oVEMP recording might be Presymptomatic tinnitus is regarded to occur in ears with normal hearing and abnormal VEMP, while asymptomatic tinnitus may occur in ears with normal VEMP. Tinnitus may be the first signs of secondary or delayed endolymphatic hydrops. If this is demonstrated to be accurate, we should anticipate that such patients will gradually develop other endolymphatic hydrops symptoms like SNHL and clinical vestibular dysfunction.

Optimum Response Filter Setting for Air Conduction-Induced Ocular Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential.

BACKGROUND: A wide range of normative values of amplitude and latencies can be noticed in the publications on ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potential (oVEMP), possibly because of the inconsistent use of various stimulus and acquisition-related parameters such as response filter, gaze angle, onset polarity of stimulus, etc. One major nonuniform parameter across studies is the response filter. Several band-pass response filters such as 0.5-500, 1-1000, 5-500, 5-800, 10-750, 20-2000, 100-3000, and 200-1000 Hz have been used across published studies, and a wide range of normative values can be noticed. However, there is paucity of literature evidence to show that variations in response filters could cause alterations in oVEMP response. PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the effects of changes in response filter setting on oVEMP. RESEARCH DESIGN: Normative study using repeated measures research design. STUDY SAMPLE: Young adults in the age range of 18-35 years (N = 150) and older adults in the age range of 60-70 years (N = 10). INTERVENTION: Contralateral air conduction oVEMP. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Contralateral air conduction oVEMP was obtained from only one ear of all participants. Low-pass filters (LPFs) of 500, 700, 1000, 1500, 2000, and 3000 Hz and high-pass filters (HPFs) of 0.1, 1, 10, and 30 Hz were used in all possible combinations of one LPF and one HPF to create band-pass filters. Latencies, peak-to-peak amplitude, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were obtained for each response and comparison was made between various band-pass filters. RESULTS: In young adults, there was a significant reduction in n1 and p1 latencies with increasing HPF and LPF (p < 0.01) and a significant reduction in peak-to-peak amplitude with increasing HPF (p < 0.008). The peak-to-peak amplitude was significantly not affected by changes in LPF (p > 0.05). In older adults, the response rate was better for 0.1- to 1000-Hz than 1- to 1000-Hz band-pass filters. CONCLUSIONS: The optimum band-pass filter is 0.1-1000 Hz for recording oVEMP as it produces the largest amplitude oVEMP without compromising on SNR and causes improved response rate in older adults compared with 1- to 1000-Hz filters. Therefore, clinical recording of oVEMP should use 0.1-1000 Hz for obtaining large amplitude potentials and improving the chances of response detection in clinical population.

One-year prevalence and risk factors of tinnitus in children with otological problems.

INTRODUCTION: The present study was conducted to find one year prevalence and risk factors of tinnitus in the children (below 18 years) who reported with the ear or hearing related complaint to All India Institute of Speech and hearing, Mysore. METHODS: A retrospective case analysis was carried out by reviewing the case files of those who visited the institute during the above period. RESULTS: The results shown that the tinnitus prevalence was 5.24%. No gender difference was found in children with tinnitus. Further, 79.63% of the children with tinnitus had hearing loss. In addition, 30.23% of the children with tinnitus had mild degree of hearing loss followed by minimal, and moderate degree of hearing loss. Most of these children had conductive, and sensorineural type of hearing loss than mixed type of hearing loss. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that hearing loss, gender, giddiness, and headache were found to be major risk factors.

One-year prevalence and risk factors of tinnitus in older individuals with otological problems.

OBJECTIVE: The present study was carried out to estimate one year prevalence and risk factors of tinnitus in the older individuals (60 years and above) who reported with the ear and/or hearing related complaint to All India Institute of Speech and hearing, Mysore. METHODS: The case files of those who visited the institute during the above said period were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: The results of the study revealed that the prevalence of tinnitus was 16.81%. It was also found that 60.9% of the individuals with tinnitus were males. Further, 97.5% of the individuals with tinnitus had hearing loss. In addition, 28.53% of the individuals with tinnitus had moderate degree of hearing loss followed by moderately severe degree of hearing loss. Most of these individuals had sensorineural impairment. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that prevalence of tinnitus is quite high in the older individuals with otological problems. The hearing loss, gender, giddiness, headache, hypertension, and diabetes were found to be major risk factors.