The characteristics of semicircular canal injury frequency in vestibular neuritis patients

Abstract

Objective:To evaluate the frequency characteristics of semicircular canal injury in patients with vestibular neuritis. Method:Fifty-three patients with vestibular neuritis were respectively evaluated by caloric test(CT)，head shaking test(HST),video head impulse test (vHIT),which reflects semicircular canal function in the low, middle, high frequency region. The asymmetric value of CT unilateral semicircular canal reaction (UW), head shaking nystagmus induced by HST, gain value of VHIT (VHIT-G) and presence or absence of saccade (VHIT-S) were used as observation indicators. The data were analyzed by SPSS 17.0 statistical software.The characteristics of the results of the three tests in patients with vestibular neuritis was analyzed and the functional status of the high, middle and low frequency regions of the semicircular canal was evaluated. Result:The positive rates of CT, HST, VHIT-G and VHIT-S in 53 patients with vestibular neuritis were 94.3%（50/53）,75.5%（40/53）,81.1%（43/53）,96.2%（51/53）,respectively. The positive rates of CT, HST, VHIT-G and VHIT-S were 92.9%（26/28）,89.3%（25/28）,92.9%（26/28）,96.4%（27/28）in 28 cases with disease course ≤ 7 days, and the positive rates in 25 patients with disease course >7 days were 96.0%（24/25）,60.0%（15/25）,68.0%（17/25）,96.0%（24/25）,respectively. Compared with the positive rate of each index, CT and VHIT-G (P=0.076), HST and VHIT-G (P=0.480) had no statistical significance. The difference between CT and HST (P=0.015), VHIT-G and VHIT-S(P=0.032) was statistically significant. The positive rates of CT, HST, VHIT-G and VHIT-saccade in patients with course of disease ≤7 days were compared, and there was no significant difference. In patients with disease course >7 days, except HST and VHIT-G, there were statistical differences in other indexes. The correlation test between VHIT-G and VHIT-S：r=-0.437, P=0.006. Conclusion:The vestibular injury in patients with vestibular neuritis showed in a manner of full frequency injury. The multi-frequency detection technique is helpful for the clinical diagnosis of vestibular neuritis, and also can reflect the compensation and recovery of vestibular function.