Tilt Suppression, Okan, and Head-Shaking Nystagmus at Long-Term Follow-Up After Unilateral Vestibular Neurectomy
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Journal of Vestibular Research, Vol. 6, No.4, pp. 235-241, 1996 Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Inc. Printed in the USA. All rights reserved 0957-4271/96 $15.00 + .00 ELSEVIER 0957-4271 (95)02045-4 Contribution TILT SUPPRESSION, OKAN, AND HEAD-SHAKING NYSTAGMUS AT LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP AFTER UNILATERAL VESTIBULAR NEURECTOMY K. Brantberg,* P.-A. Fransson,t J. Bergenius,* A. Tribukait* *Department of Audiology, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden; tDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden Reprint address: Krister Brantberg, MD, Department of Audiology, Karolinska Hospital, S-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden; Phone:+ 46, 8 7294022; Fax: + 46, 8 345431; E-mail: [email protected] 0 Abstract-The functional status of the velocity locity step (or sinusoidal) stimulation is be storage mechanism was studied in patients at lieved to be in the range of 6 to 8 s (1-2). The long-term follow-up (2 to 4 years) after unilateral time constant of the vestibula-ocular reflex vestibular neurectomy. The time constant of the (VORtc) is longer, in the range of 10 to 20 s (3- vestibulo-ocular reflex (VORtc), the effect of head 7). Prolongation of the time constant within the tilt on postrotatory nystagmus, optokinetic after central nervous system is considered to be ef nystagmus (OKAN), and nystagmus after rapid head shaking were studied in 10 patients. In fected by the "velocity storage" mechanism (8- agreement with previous findings, VORtc was 10). This storage function improves the VOR in found to be short and most patients manifested the low frequency range ( 11). The mechanism OKAN, suggesting that unilateral peripheral ves is also responsible for optokinetic aftemystag tibular loss is associated with a complete loss of mus (OKAN) and has been suggested to be of storage within the the VOR but only a partial loss importance for visual-vestibular interaction of velocity storage for visual input. However, at (12-14). postrotatory head tilt the VOR time constant was In several studies, clinical and experimental further shortened, supposedly due to discharge of evidence has been obtained that suggests that functioning velocity storage. Moreover, most pa unilateral peripheral vestibular loss is associ tients manifested nystagmus after head shaking. ated with a complete loss of velocity storage These findings on tilt suppression and head-shak ing nystagmus suggest that velocity storage within within the VOR but only with a partial loss of the VOR may function even in patients with com storage for visual input (for review, see 15). It plete unilateral vestibular lesions. has also been suggested that nonfunctioning ve locity storage within the VOR is beneficial in 0 Ke~rwords- storage: tilt CHllll'U•••cCHU~ the acute .. of a vestibular 1e~ head-shaking nystagmus; vestiltmiar sion \J6-.i/J. noweve1, in the 1ong run, func neurectomy. tioning velocity storage within the VOR may be expected to improve visual-vestibular interac tion and, hence, also to in1prove vestibular com Introduction pensation. The aim of the present study was to ascertain In human beings, the time constant of activity whether there is residual velocity storage within within the vestibular nerve in response to a ve- the VOR at the long-term follow-up after unilat eral vestibular neurectomy. If there is no veloc Preliminary data were presented at the Baniny Society ity storage within the VOR, postrotatory head meeting, Uppsala, Sweden, June 6-8, 1994. movements should not cause "tilt suppression," RECEIVED 20 April1995; ACCEPTED 3 November 1995. 235 236 K. Brantberg et al that is, shorter VORtc due to rapid discharge of position and the patient remained so for the next the velocity storage mechanism ( 18-19), and 3 min. there should be no "head-shaking nystagmus" (20). Test Procedure; Tilt Suppression J\!Iaterials and J\!Iethods The subject was seated in the rotatory chair with an occipital support (eye-ear axis 10° Subjects nose-up) in complete darkness. The chair was slowly accelerated (5°/s2) up to 120°/s. a veloc- 5 males. mean age maintained for the following 60 s, after 50.4 years, range 37-65) were tested 2 to 4 which chair rotation was decelerated. Four de years (mean 33 months, range 21--44) after uni celerations (120°/s2) were made. 2 toward the lateral vestibular neurectomy due to intractable right and 2 toward the left. One pair. of stimuli vertigo of at least 1 year's duration. The pa was used to study the normal postrotatory decay tients were all considered to have fluctuating of the slow phase eye velocity (SPEV), the vestibular function in the affected ear, which other to study decay at postrotatory head tilt. At caused attacks of vertigo and/or impediment to head tilt trials, a sound signal was given 2 sec vestibular compensation. Four patients were di onds after stopping the chair. Subjects had pre agnosed as having Meniere's disease. In 3 pa viously been instructed to tilt their head forward tients the vestibular symptoms started following upon hearing the signal until the chin rested on a sudden hearing loss and in 1 patient following the upper thorax, and to remain in that position surgery for otosclerosis. The other 2 patients for the next 60 s. The stimulus order was sys had no, or negligible, auditory symptoms in the tematically varied, and the subjects were not affected ear. None of the 10 patients revealed aware that it was a tilt trial until the signal was audio-vestibular signs or symptoms that would given. indicate bilateral involvement. Comparative data on tilt suppression, OKAN, and head-shaking nystagmus were obtained Test Procedure; Optokinetic from 6 healthy controls (3 females, 3 males, Afternystagmus ( 0 KAN) mean age 51.3 years, range 41-64), none of whom had any history of cochlear, vestibular, Horizontal optokinetic stimulation was ad or central nervous disorder. ministered by means of a whole-field optoki netic drum (diameter 120 em), with alternating black and white stripes, 7 em wide. During the Caloric Test test, the subject was seated with the head fixed by an occipital support (eye-ear axis 10° nose Caloric testing was performed in darkness up) and instructed to stare at, but not try to fol with the patient's eyes open. The caloric re low, the moving stripes of the surrounding sponse to ice water stimulation in the operated drum. The optokinetic drum was accelerated up ear was studied in 2 different head positions, to a constant velocity of 60°/s2 in complete which arranged the horizontal canals in the ver darkness, after which the light was turned on for tical plane, that is, the traditional supine posi 60s. Recordings were continued until 60 s after tion (head tilted forward 30°) and the opposite the light was extinguished. Four stimulations prone position (21). At caloric stimulation, the were given: 2 toward the right and 2 toward the operated ear was turned uppermost and the tym left. One pair of stimuli was used to study the panic membrane was irrigated with 2 mL of ice effect of head tilt on OKAN. At head tilt trials, a water through a small rubber hose. After 30 s sound signal was given 2 s after the light was the head was slowly turned to the straight ahead turned off and in parallelism with the VOR tilt Velocity Storage after Vestibular Neurectomy 237 suppression procedure. The subjects remained Spontaneous nystagmus was subtracted from in the tilted position for the next 60 s. the SPEV. Evaluation of head-shaking nystagmus was based on the first 30 s after head stop, and spon Test Procedure; Head-shaking taneous nystagmus was subtracted from the Nystagmus SPEV. After horizontal head shaking, the initial velocity and the cumulative amplitude were cal The subjects were tested in the sitting posi culated from the primary phase. After vertical tion and in complete darkness, having been in head shaking, the nystagmus direction of the structed to shake their heads vigorous for 10 s primary phase was noted. Reversal phases fol and then stop sudden} y, keeping the head still lowing horizontal or vertical head shaking were for the next 60 s. Head-shaking nystagmus was also noted. evaluated following stimulation in the horizon tal and the vertical planes. Statistics Recordings Two-tailed Student's t-test for paired data Eye movements were recorded with a DC was used to evaluate differences in the patient oculographic technique, and transcribed simul group between stimulation toward the lesioned taneously by an ink-jet recorder (Mingograph and healthy ear, and between stimulation with M81, Siemens-Elema, Stockholm, Sweden). and without postrotatory head tilt. Two-tailed Recordings were digitized by manually select Student's t-test for unpaired data was used to ing the start and endpoints of slow phases of test the difference in VORtc and OKAN be nystagmus on a graphics tablet (Hipad plus, tween patients and controls. Houston Instrument, Austin, Texas), the data being fed into an IBM-compatible computer for analysis. Thereafter, each nystagmus beat was represented by a single value for slow phase eye Results velocity (SPEV). Nystagmus direction was de fined by the direction of the fast phase. Caloric Response All patients had spontaneous nystagmus Analysis of Recordings beating toward the healthy ear (Table 1). Rever sal of nystagmus direction was not seen at ca The VORtc was evaluated during the first loric stimulation in the prone position among 30 s after rotatory stimulation. The initial 5 s the 8 patients that agreed to ice water stimula were disregarded to enable comparison between tion in the operated ear. In 7 of the 8 patients, no the two stimulus conditions. tba~ is. with versus increas::: in SPEV 'lll'as noted at ice \Vater stimu without postrotatory head tilt.