Assessment of vestibular function of infants and children with congenital and acquired deafness using the ice-water caloric test, rotational chair test and vestibular-evoked myogenic potential recording

Abstract

Conclusions. The vestibular function can be assessed by ice-water caloric test, rotational chair test and VEMP recording in severely hearing impaired infants and young children, and 85% of these patients showed abnormal responses in these tests. Objectives. To evaluate the vestibular function of infants and young children with congenital and acquired deafness, we examined the semicircular canal and otolith function in their early childhood. Materials and methods. Our subjects were 20 children (11 boys, 9 girls; age range 31–97 months, mean age 54.2 months) with severe hearing impairment. Their vestibular functions were assessed by the ice-water caloric test, rotational chair test and vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) recording. Results. Among these 20 severely hearing impaired children, only 3 (15%) showed normal responses in the caloric test, rotational chair test and VEMP recording bilaterally. Seven (35%) showed responses asymmetrically in the caloric test despite normal responses in the rotational chair test and VEMP recording bilaterally. Five (25%) showed hyporeflexia or areflexia in the caloric test bilaterally, but showed normal responses in the rotational chair test and normal reproducible or decreased VEMPs. Five (25%) showed no responses at all in the caloric test, rotational chair test and VEMP recording.