Do otosclerosis and stapedotomy affect semicircular canal functions? Preliminary results of video head impulse test

Abstract

Background

Otosclerosis and stapedotomy have some effects on the vestibular system, but there are very limited data on their effects on semicircular canals (SCCs).

Objective

The aim of the study is to investigate if otosclerosis and stapedotomy have an effect on SCCs and video head impulse test (vHIT).

Material and methods

This retrospective study included 11 otosclerosis patients who had undergone stapedotomy and 30 healthy participants. Twenty-two ears of 11 patients with otosclerosis were divided into two groups based on whether the ear had been operated (12 ears) or not (10 ears). All participants underwent vHIT. We compared gains of all SCCs, presence of saccades among the operated ears, unoperated ears and control ears.

Results

Significant difference (p<.05) was noted in comparisons of gain of lateral SCCs among all groups. Control group had the highest gain, followed by unoperated and operated groups, respectively. Comparison of incidence of covert saccade showed significant difference (p<.05) for lateral and posterior SCCs.

Conclusions and significance

Otosclerosis and otosclerosis surgery may have some effects on SCC functions and thereby vHIT. Lateral SCC is the most affected SCC in terms of gain. These findings appear to add important contributions to our knowledge.

Chinese abstract

背景：耳硬化症和镫骨切开术对前庭系统有一定影响, 但有关其对半规管（SCC）影响的资料非常有限。

目的：本研究的目的是研究耳硬化症和镫骨切开术是否对SCC和视频头冲测试（vHIT）有影响。

材料和方法：这项回顾性研究包括11例接受了镫骨切开术的耳硬化症患者和30名健康参与者。根据耳是否接受过手术（12个耳和10个耳）, 将11例耳硬化症患者的22个耳分为两组。所有参与者均接受了vHIT。我们比较了所有SCC的收益, 即手术耳朵、未经手术耳朵和对照耳朵中扫视的存在。

结果：在所有组中, 侧SCCs的增益比较都存在显著差异（p <0.05）。对照组的增益最高, 其次是未手术组和手术组。隐性扫视发生率的比较显示, 侧和后SCC存在显著性差异（p <0.05）。

结论和意义：耳硬化症和耳硬化症手术可能对SCC功能有一定影响, 从而影响vHIT。就增益而言, 侧SCC所受影响最大。这些发现似乎提高了我们的认知。

Keywords:

• vHIT
• otosclerosis
• stapedotomy
• vertigo
• semicircular canal

Acknowledgements

vHIT equipment used in this study and technical support were kindly provided by the Ear Technic Co. Ltd.

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of Health Science Turkey Ethical Committee (reference number: 19/69) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.