268
Views
4
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

The effect of mental alerting on peripheral vestibular nystagmus during spontaneous, gaze (30° left, 30° right) and body positional (left & right lateral lying) testing using electronystagmography (ENG)

&
Pages 601-606 | Received 29 Jun 2007, Published online: 07 Jul 2009
 

Abstract

The performance of mental alerting during caloric testing has always been considered important, however its use/benefit during electronystagmography (ENG)/videonystagmography (VNG) testing has been questioned. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mental alerting tasks on peripheral type vestibular nystagmus recorded during ENG. Thirty patients with significant spontaneous/gaze or positional nystagmus (slow phase velocity ≥ 6°/s) were recruited from consecutive referrals for vestibular assessment. Nystagmus was recorded by ENG both in the presence and absence of mental alerting for each patient. Investigation of nystagmus by analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significantly larger nystagmus (higher value SPV) with mental alerting than with no alerting (p<0.001), and for some patients nystagmus traces were reduced to a flat line (no nystagmus) with no alerting. The study demonstrates the importance of mental alerting in helping overcome central suppression of nystagmus and highlights its importance to help identify peripheral type nystagmus during ENG.

Abbreviations
ANOVA=

Analysis of variance

ENG=

Electronystagmography

MA=

Mental alerting

SPV=

Slow phase velocity

VNG=

Videonystagmography

VOR=

Vestibular ocular reflex

Abbreviations
ANOVA=

Analysis of variance

ENG=

Electronystagmography

MA=

Mental alerting

SPV=

Slow phase velocity

VNG=

Videonystagmography

VOR=

Vestibular ocular reflex

Sumario

Siempre se ha considerado importante la ejecución de tareas de alerta mental durante las pruebas calóricas, sin embargo se ha cuestionado su uso/beneficio durante la electronistagmografía (ENG) y videonistagmografía (VNG). El propósito de este estudio fue investigar el efecto de las tareas de alerta mental sobre el nistagmus vestibular obtenido durante una ENG. Se reclutaron treinta pacientes con nistagmus significativo, posicional, espontáneo o de mirada extrema (con fase lenta ≥6°/s) que habían sido referidos para evaluación vestibular. Se grabó el nistagmus de cada paciente con y sin asignación de una tarea de alerta mental. La investigación del nistagmus por análisis de varianza (ANOVA) reveló un nistagmus significativamente mayor (nivel mayor SPV) con tareas de alerta mental que sin ellas (p<0.001), y para algunos pacientes los trazos de nistagmus se redujeron hasta una línea isoeléctrica (abolido) sin las tareas. El estudio demostró la importancia de la alerta mental para evitar la supresión central del nistagmus y subraya su importancia para ayudar a identificar el nistagmus de tipo periférico durante la ENG.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.