Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media, Caloric Testing, and Rotational Chair Testing

Abstract

To determine the incidence of caloric and rotational chair testing (ROT) abnormalities in a group of patients with chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) and to correlate caloric test results with ROT. Twenty-five patients with CSOM with or without cholesteatoma who were to undergo tympanomastoid surgery. Caloric and ROT. History of dizziness. Vestibular test abnormalities defined by caloric weakness (CW), reduced gain, abnormal phase, or asymmetry on ROT. Among the 25 patients, 13 had bilateral CSOM-most with long-standing disease and history of previous surgical intervention. Of the 25 patients, 19 (76%) demonstrated either unilateral or bilateral CW. Eighteen (72%) demonstrated abnormalities on ROT. Eleven patients (44%) had complaints of vertigo/dizziness, although 2 of these patients had both normal caloric testing and ROT. Unilateral or bilateral CW was 80% accurate in predicting an ROT abnormality, whereas the symptom of vertigo/dizziness was only 48% accurate in predicting an ROT abnormality. The incidence of CW among CSOM patients in this study was high and correlated well with abnormalities on ROT. Interestingly, ROT results correlated better with CW than symptoms of dizziness/vertigo. Although CW findings can be the result of technical limitations in testing patients with CSOM, ROT corroboration of these results suggest that they are valid findings.