Assessment of peripheral vestibular apparatus in patients with peripheral vestibular symptoms using videonystagmography in tertiary care center

Abstract

Introduction: Vertigo, dizziness, giddiness, and unsteadiness are all quite frequent symptoms that affect a large proportion of the population. Due to the challenges associated with effectively diagnosing and documenting vestibular illnesses, figures on their prevalence, frequency of occurrence, and social impact vary greatly. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the most common cause of vertigo of vestibular origin. Positional nystagmus is most frequently seen in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) associated with peripheral vestibular diseases. Videonystagmography (VNG) tests are an excellent diagnostic tool for distinguishing peripheral from central vestibular abnormalities, provided they are conducted and interpreted by doctors rather than technicians. The current study utilized VNG to evaluate vestibular apparatus function in patients with peripheral vestibular symptoms (dizziness/imbalance/giddiness/vertigo). Methods: Prospective observational study comparing efficacy of assessment of vestibular apparatus using clinical vestibular assessment versus VNG in patients having vestibular symptoms. Results: With clinical vestibular assessment test, 13 out of 50 symptomatic patients had no nystagmus. When VNG was performed on these patients, 10 out of these 13 patients had shown positive findings, whereas only three patients had negative findings. Our study finds that VNG along with clinical evaluation is more effective in diagnosing vestibular disorders when compared with clinical evaluation alone and this was statistically significant. Conclusion: Based on our results, VNG is the better modality for the assessment of vestibular apparatus in patients with peripheral vestibular symptoms for diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords

• clinical vestibular assessment
• giddiness
• nystagmus
• peripheral vestibular
• videonystagmography