Subjective visual vertical during eccentric rotation in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

OBJECTIVE

There have been only a few reports of subjective visual vertical (SVV) in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), and each showed slightly different results. SVV measurement during eccentric rotation that stimulated only 1 labyrinth was known to show a considerable improvement in comparison with conventional SVV as a clinical measure of otolith function. But there has not been a report regarding SVV during eccentric rotation in patients with BPPV. We therefore measured SVV during eccentric rotation and investigated the function of utricles in patients with BPPV.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective study.

SETTING

Tertiary referral center.

PATIENTS

Twenty-three patients with BPPV.

INTERVENTION

Diagnostic procedure.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

SVV was measured in 23 patients with BPPV and 20 normal subjects. We compared the SVV values before and during eccentric rotation toward the right and left in both patients with BPPV and the control group.

RESULTS

Between BPPV patients and the control group, no difference in the SVV value was observed in pre-eccentric rotation, but significant differences of SVV values were found during eccentric rotation.

CONCLUSION

We identified utricular dysfunction in patients with BPPV during eccentric rotation and suggested that eccentric rotation might be a good method to measure utricular dysfunction.