Abstract
Objective
The quantitative suppression rate of positional nystagmus (PN) by ocular fixation (OF) is unknown. This study aims to analyse the effect of OF on the slow phase velocity (SPV) of PN during diagnostic positional manoeuvres (DPMs) with videonystagmography in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).
Design
DPMs were performed on 58 patients with BPPV, 33 (56.9%) of whom were women. OF was initiated when PN was most evident, and recording was continued. The mean SPV of three consecutive nystagmus before (F0) and after (F1) OF initiation was calculated. The rate of suppression of PN by OF was found in percent with the formula (F0 – F1) x 100/F0.
Study Sample
58 patients were included in this study.
Results
The mean age was 56.1 ± 11.2 (range 27–76). F0 and F1 values were calculated as 5.742 ± 5.589 and 1.948 ± 3.424 degrees/second, respectively (p < 0.001). The rate of suppression of PN by OF was found to be 66.1%.
Conclusions
OF significantly suppresses PN during DPMs in BPPV patients. Elimination of OF during DPMs is important for accurate diagnosis.
Acknowledgments
This study was conducted in a tertiary reference hospital with the approval of the ethics committee of the University of Health Sciences Kocaeli Derince Training and Research Hospital. The ethical approval number is 2021-109.
This study was presented as an oral presentation at the 42nd Turkish National Congress of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery held in Antalya on 3-7 November 2021.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.