Research in Vestibular Science

Original Article

Comparison of vestibular evoked myogenic potentials between low and high tone idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss: Sang-Wook Park, Sang Yun Lee, Somi Ryu, Jung Woo Lee, Chae Dong Yim, Dong Gu Hur, Seong-Ki Ahn; Res Vestib Sci. 2024;23(1):11-15. Published online March 15, 2024; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21790/rvs.2024.001

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Abstract PDF: Objectives
Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) have been reported to be useful in evaluating not only vestibular function but also the prognosis of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) patients. Even though low frequency, high frequency, and all frequency-involved ISSNHL groups tend to show varied clinical characteristics, there is a lack of data using VEMP results to analyze these subgroups. We investigated if the VEMP test is a valuable tool to predict recovery from hearing loss in association with different frequencies.
Methods
A total of 26 ISSNHL patients were divided into three different groups impaired with low tone (ascending type), high tone (descending type), and all tones (flat type) based on the initial audiograms. Each group included five, 10, and 11 patents, respectively, and their VEMP results were compared between the three subgroups.
Results
Abnormal VEMP results were found in five of the total 26 ISSNHL patients (19.2%). Two (40.0%), one (10.0%), and two (18.1%) patients of low tone, high tone, and all tone hearing loss groups, respectively, showed abnormal VEMP results. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the three groups.
Conclusions
Even though VEMP is known as a valuable tool for predicting the prognosis of ISSNHL patients, it does not seem to reflect frequency-sensitive aspects of ISSNHL.

Case Report

Complete ocular tilt reaction with subjective visual vertical tilt in a patient with a medial prefrontal cortex lesion: a case report: Hyung Lee, Hyun Ah Kim; Res Vestib Sci. 2024;23(1):24-27. Published online March 15, 2024; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21790/rvs.2023.136

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Abstract PDF: A 61-year-old male patient undergoing chemotherapy for esophageal cancer presented with symptoms of rightward tilting while both sitting and walking. A neurological examination revealed a head tilt, skew deviation with hypertrophy of the left eye, and a rightward shift in his gait. No spontaneous nystagmus was observed, and the vestibulo-ocular reflex was normal. Magnetic resonance imaging of the head revealed a suspected metastatic lesion in the right medial prefrontal cortex. Following the initiation of levetiracetam treatment, the patient demonstrated marked improvement, with the resolution of both head tilt and skew deviation within 1 month. Traditionally, the ocular tilt reaction has been attributed to unilateral or asymmetric dysfunction of the graviceptive pathways extending from the utricle to the upper midbrain lesions. However, this case highlights the potential involvement of the prefrontal cortex in the ocular tilt reaction. Further research is warranted on the role of the prefrontal cortex within the vestibular system.

Original Articles

Quantifying the Prevalence of Acute Vestibular Neuritis through Big Data Analysis: Chul Young Yoon, Seulgi Hong, Ji-Yun Park, Young Joon Seo; Res Vestib Sci. 2023;22(3):68-76. Published online September 15, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21790/rvs.2023.22.3.68

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Abstract PDF Supplementary Material: Objectives
Big data analytics in healthcare research have gained momentum, offering unprecedented opportunities to investigate complex medical conditions like acute vestibular neuritis (AVN). However, an inappropriate definition can introduce bias and inaccuracies into prevalence estimation, making the results unreliable and hindering cross-study comparisons. The Health Insurance data in South Korea will be used to create a robust operational definition for AVN.
Methods
The study utilized the National Patients Sample dataset from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) of the Republic of Korea. The operational definition of AVN was defined using the HIRA data, which includes specific codes for diagnosis, testing, and medications. The revised categorization scheme for AVN was presented as case 1 through case 5, with criteria for each category.
Results
The optimal conditions are deemed to be those that encompass the outcomes of both case 5 and case 1-1, encompassing all conditions. The study also provided prevalence estimates for subgroups based on demographic factors (age, sex), and found a consistent pattern throughout all years, sex, and age.
Conclusions
The study analyzed the prevalence of AVN in case 1 and case 5, which were similar to the reference prevalence of 3.5 per 100,000 people reported in other countries. The study’s results are encouraging for several reasons, including the validity of the operational definitions used, and the agreement between the study’s prevalence estimates and the reference prevalence. The operational definition in statistics, in the context of big data, serves as a precise and standardized criterion.

A Comparative Analysis of the Vestibulocochlear Function in Patients with Isolated Semicircular Canal Hypofunction Using a Video Head Impulse Test: Yu Jung Park, Min Young Lee, Ji Eun Choi, Jae Yun Jung, Jung Hwa Bahng; Res Vestib Sci. 2023;22(2):34-45. Published online June 15, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21790/rvs.2023.22.2.34

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Abstract PDF: Objectives
The objective of this study was to analyze vestibulocochlear function results in patients identified with isolated semicircular canal (SCC) hypofunction using the video head impulse test (vHIT).
Methods
A retrospective review was conducted on the clinical records of 123 patients diagnosed with isolated SCC hypofunction based on vHIT results. Among these patients, 72 had isolated posterior SCC (PSCC) hypofunction, 25 had isolated lateral SCC (LSCC) hypofunction, and 26 had isolated anterior SCC (ASCC) hypofunction. Descriptive analyses were performed on various vestibulocochlear tests including pure tone audiometry, sinusoidal harmonic acceleration (SHA), spontaneous nystagmus (SN), head-shaking nystagmus (HSN), caloric testing, and cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential, with results analyzed separately for each SCC hypofunction group.
Results
The study found that 66.0% of the evaluated patients exhibited abnormal results in at least one vestibulocochlear function test. PSCC hypofunction patients showed a significantly higher incidence of hearing loss compared to ASCC and LSCC hypofunction patients. LSCC hypofunction patients exhibited higher rates of corrective saccade, phase asymmetry of SHA, and SN abnormalities compared to other SCC hypofunction patients. Additionally, the rates of corrective saccade and phase asymmetry of SHA were also higher in LSCC hypofunction patients. ASCC hypofunction patients demonstrated significantly higher rates of normal corrective saccade, phase lead of SHA, and SN.
Conclusions
The analysis of this study suggests that even in cases where vHIT indicates isolated SCC hypofunction, additional vestibulocochlear function tests should be conducted to identify any associated vestibulocochlear dysfunctions. This highlights the importance of comprehensive evaluation to accurately diagnose and manage patients with SCC hypofunction.

Dizziness in Patients with Vestibular Epilepsy: Wankiun Lee, Jae-Moon Kim; Res Vestib Sci. 2023;22(1):7-13. Published online March 13, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21790/rvs.2023.22.1.7

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Abstract PDF: Objectives
Vestibular epilepsy refers to epilepsy in which vertigo is the sole or main symptom of a seizure. However, epilepsy is rarely considered as a differential diagnosis in patients complaining of dizziness. Here, we reviewed ten cases of vestibular epilepsy and analyzed the dizziness complained by the patient.
Methods
In this study, the medical records of dizziness patients with epileptic discharges observed on electroencephalogram were retrospectively analyzed. Patients who had other obvious causes of dizziness, lacked a description of dizziness, or were not taking antiseizure medications were excluded. We finally recruited 10 patients, and investigated their dizziness characteristic, brain imaging tests, electroencephalograms, and blood test findings.
Results
Patients with vestibular epilepsy usually felt dizzy abruptly while not moving, and often complained of dizziness in the form of spinning around or becoming dazed. Dizziness was short, usually between a few seconds and a few minutes, and the frequency of occurrence was variable, so there was no consistent trend. There were no abnormal findings in blood tests. In brain imaging test, most patients did not show significant abnormalities. The electroencephalographic abnormalities of the patients were mainly observed in the temporal lobe, and the dizziness they complained of improved when they started taking antiseizure medications.
Conclusions
If a patient with dizziness complains of dizziness that occurs suddenly and lasts for a short time, early electroencephalogram should be considered to prevent the diagnosis of epilepsy from being overlooked or delayed.

Difference of Cervical Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials between Bone-Conduction and Air-Conduction in Patients with Nonspecific Dizziness: Yong-Hwi An, Jung Ho Choi, Seung Yeon Jeon, Hyun Joon Shim; Res Vestib Sci. 2022;21(4):93-98. Published online December 15, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21790/rvs.2022.21.4.93

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Abstract PDF: Objectives
This study was performed to evaluate the difference of the cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMP) stimulated by bone-conduction (BC) and air-conduction (AC) in patients with nonspecific dizziness.
Methods
Twenty-eight dizzy patients (56 ears) and 15 subjects (30 ears) as normal control was enrolled. Responses of BC- and AC-cVEMP were recorded sequentially in both groups. cVEMP parameters including latencies, inter-latencies intervals, amplitudes, and interaural amplitude asymmetry were analyzed and compared.
Results
Among the patients with nonspecific dizziness, AC-cVEMP responses were clearly detected in all 56 ears while BC-cVEMP responses were detected in 32 ears (57.1%). Amplitudes of BC-cVEMP were significantly smaller than those of AC-cVEMP in all patients with BC-cVEMP response. There was no difference in latencies, inter-latencies intervals, and interaural amplitude asymmetry ratios between BC- and AC-cVEMP. There was no significant difference in BCand AC-cVEMP between the dizzy and control groups.
Conclusions
BC-cVEMP is not clinically useful in comparison to AC-cVEMP for the evaluation of nonspecific dizziness. An effective stimulation tool for BC is necessary to provoke more reliable responses of BC-cVEMP.

Development of An Algorithm for Slippage-Induced Motion Artifacts Reduction in Video-Nystagmography: Yerin Lee, Young Joon Seo, Sejung Yang; Res Vestib Sci. 2022;21(4):104-110. Published online December 15, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21790/rvs.2022.21.4.104

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Abstract PDF: Objectives
The slippage of the video-nystagmography devices causes motion artifacts in the trajectory of the pupil and thus results in distortion in the nystagmus waveform. In this study, the moving average was proposed to reduce slippage-induced motion artifacts from the real-world data obtained in the field.
Methods
The dataset consists of an infrared video of positional tests performed on eight patients with a lateral semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. The trajectories of the pupil were obtained from the video with binarization, morphological operation, and elliptical fitting algorithm. The acquired data was observed and the section where the slippage occurred was labeled by an otolaryngologist. The moving average with windows of various lengths was calculated and subtracted from the original signal and evaluated to find the most adequate parameter to reduce the motion artifact.
Results
The period of nystagmus in the given data was found to be ranged from 0.01 to 4 seconds. The slippages that appeared in the data can be categorized into fast and slow slippages. The length, distance, and speed of trajectories in the slippage ranges were also measured to find the characteristics of the motion artifact in video-nystagmography data. The shape of the nystagmus waveform was preserved, and the motion artifacts were reduced in both types of slippages when the length of the window in moving average was set to 1 second.
Conclusions
The algorithm developed in this study is expected to minimize errors caused by slippage when developing a diagnostic algorithm that can assist clinicians.

Case Report

Vestibular Neuritis after COVID-19 Vaccination: So-Hyun Kim, Se Hwan Hwang; Res Vestib Sci. 2022;21(3):89-92. Published online September 15, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21790/rvs.2022.21.3.89

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Abstract PDF: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread rapidly and was declared a pandemic. In this situation, vaccination for COVID-19 is important and has been prompted in many countries. However, a number of adverse events have been reported for the Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca vaccines. Otolaryngologic adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination were reported, including several cases of sudden sensorineural hearing loss. Vestibular neuritis (VN) is an acute vestibular syndrome that causes acute and spontaneous vertigo due to unilateral vestibular deafferentiation, leading to nausea or vomiting and unsteadiness that can last from days to weeks. Neurotropism for the cochleovestibular nerve, immunoglobulin G mediated immune off-target reaction, and reactivation of latent viruses are hypothesized to be etiologies. Herein, the case of a 49-year-old female who developed VN after COVID-19 vaccination is presented. Although the association between VN and COVID-19 vaccination remains unclear, clinicians should be aware that VN may occur as an adverse event of COVID-19 vaccination.

Original Article

Impairment of Vestibular Function in Patients with Vestibular Schwannoma According to the Presence of Dizziness: Youngjeong Lee, Se A Lee, Eek-Sung Lee, Tae-Kyeong Lee, Jong Dae Lee; Res Vestib Sci. 2022;21(3):75-79. Published online September 15, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21790/rvs.2022.21.3.75

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Abstract PDF: Objectives
Vestibular schwannoma (VS) is a benign Schwann cell-derived slow growing tumor originating from the vestibular nerve. Here, we aimed to investigate the correlation between the presence of the dizziness symptoms and several vestibular function test results.
Methods
We analyzed 32 patients who diagnosed with VS from 2010 to 2021 in our hospital. Caloric test, cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP) test, and video head impulse test (vHIT) were analyzed.
Results
Age, sex, pure tone audiometry, and tumor size did not show any statistical significance according to the presence or absence of dizziness. There was also no association between the presence of dizziness symptom or dizziness type and the results of the caloric test, vHIT, and cVEMP test, respectively. However, patients with dizziness had a higher rate of tumors confined to the inner auditory canal than those without dizziness.
Conclusions
In this study, the rate of complaints of dizziness was higer in patients with intracanalicular VS. The diagnostic role of vestibulsr function tests in VS is limited. The dissociation of the results of caloric test, vHIT, and cVEMP test suggest that these test are complementary.

Reviews

Vestibular Migraine: A Recent Update on Diagnosis and Treatment: Young Seo Kim, Hak Seung Lee; Res Vestib Sci. 2022;21(3):67-74. Published online September 15, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21790/rvs.2022.21.3.67

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Abstract PDF: Vestibular migraine (VM) is a variant of migraine resulting in vestibular symptoms in addition to symptoms typical of migraine. However, without a biomarker or a complete understanding of the pathophysiology, VM remains underrecognized and underdiagnosed. Therefore, the diagnosis of VM is still challenging. Meanwhile, VM should be clearly differentiated from other similar diseases. Here, we highlight these challenges, discuss common vestibular symptoms and clinical presentations in VM, and review the current aspects of its clinical diagnosis and evaluation. The concepts related to the treatment of VM are also discussed.

The Interaction of Hypertension for Vertigo in Audiovestibular Medicine Clinic: Adaobi Elizabeth Osuji; Res Vestib Sci. 2022;21(2):29-39. Published online June 15, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21790/rvs.2022.21.2.29

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Abstract PDF: As the first audiovestibular medicine physician in the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Nigeria, a keen observation revealed that a sizeable proportion of the adult patients presenting to our audiovestibular medicine clinic with vertigo are either known hypertensives, or hypertensives yet to have a formal diagnosis. This aroused an ardent curiosity to find the raison d’être, and to shed light on this pathological association between vertigo and hypertension. In line with this, it became imperative to highlight the dynamics of interaction, and pathophysiology behind the role of hypertension in vertigo.

Case Reports

Paraneoplastic Cerebellar Degeneration Presented as Acute Vertigo: Sung-Hee Kim; Res Vestib Sci. 2022;21(1):24-27. Published online March 15, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21790/rvs.2022.21.1.24

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Abstract PDF: Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration is a rare neurological manifestation of nonmetastatic malignancy. Its usual manifestation is subacute to chronic dizziness, gait ataxia, and dysarthria. There have been only a few cases of paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration with acute presentation. This study describes a patient with paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration, who presented acute vestibular syndrome and then episodically developed horizontal gaze-evoked nystagmus and gait ataxia.

Dissociated Vertical-Torsional Nystagmus in Vestibular Nucleus Lesion: Hyun-Sung Kim, Eun Hye Oh, Jae-Hwan Choi; Res Vestib Sci. 2022;21(1):19-23. Published online March 15, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21790/rvs.2022.21.1.19

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Abstract PDF: Dissociated vertical-torsional nystagmus is a unique form of nystagmus characterized by conjugate torsional but disparate vertical components. It has been mainly reported in internuclear ophthalmoplegia or medial medullary lesion involving the medial longitudinal fasciculus (MLF). The patterns of the nystagmus may be explained by a disruption of vestibulo-ocular reflex pathways from vertical semicircular canal or utriculo-ocular reflex within the MLF, but it is debatable. We described a dissociated upbeat-torsional nystagmus in a patient with vestibular nucleus infarction without involvement of MLF.

Endolymphatic Hydrops in Vestibular Migraine Associated with Menière’s Disease: A Report of Two Cases: Bit Na Lee, Seung-Bae Hwang, Jin-ju Kang, Sun-Young Oh; Res Vestib Sci. 2021;20(4):156-160. Published online December 15, 2021; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21790/rvs.2021.20.4.156

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Abstract PDF

Vestibular migraine and Menière’s disease have similar clinical features which are recurrent dizziness or auditory symptoms, so it is challengeable to establish the correct diagnosis. Herein, a 31-year-old male and a 56-year-old female showed recurrent dizziness with auditory symptoms and suffered from vestibular migraine. They met the diagnostic criteria for vestibular migraine, but the Menière’s diagnostic criteria were not satisfied as there was no hearing loss. Delayed intravenous gadolinium enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the inner ear was taken to find out of correlation of the inner ear and revealed endolymphatic hydrops. This case can improve the understanding of the pathophysiology of a vestibular migraine associated Menière’s disease.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Functional and Molecular Markers for Hearing Loss and Vertigo Attacks in Meniere’s Disease
Chao-Hui Yang, Ming-Yu Yang, Chung-Feng Hwang, Kuang-Hsu Lien
International Journal of Molecular Sciences.2023; 24(3): 2504. CrossRef

Review

Diagnosis and Management of Vestibular Schwannoma: Focus on Dizziness: Sung Il Nam; Res Vestib Sci. 2021;20(4):119-125. Published online December 15, 2021; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21790/rvs.2021.20.4.119

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Abstract PDF

Vestibular schwannoma (VS) is commonly encountered in the cerebellopontine angle and benign neoplasms that arise from Schwann cells of the eighth cranial nerve, which can show not only hearing loss but also various vestibular symptoms. Dizziness is the symptom causing significantly negative effect on quality of life in patients with VS. Here, we will review the dizziness in VS.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Impairment of Vestibular Function in Patients with Vestibular Schwannoma According to the Presence of Dizziness
Youngjeong Lee, Se A Lee, Eek-Sung Lee, Tae-Kyeong Lee, Jong Dae Lee
Research in Vestibular Science.2022; 21(3): 75. CrossRef

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