The compensation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex during rehabilitation of the patients presenting with vestibular neuritis

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to elucidate the mechanisms behind the compensation of the vestibular ocular reflex and evaluate the effectiveness of vestibular rehabilitation in the patients presenting with vestibular neuritis (VN) with the application of the video head-impulse test (vHIT) and the dynamic visual acuity test (DVAT). The study included 26 patients with vestibular neuritis whose condition was assessed by scoring based on the dizziness handicap inventory, the dynamic visual acuity test, and the video head-impulse test with the evaluation of saccades and the degree of eye-head movement coordination (gain) before and after the course of vestibular rehabilitation. The study has demonstrated that the course of vestibular rehabilitation of the patients presenting with vestibular neuritis resulted in a significant decrease in the scores of dizziness estimated based on the dizziness handicap inventory and an improvement of dynamic visual acuity in the case of the complete gain recovery as well as in the case of persisting impairment of the gain and the development of sufficient 'covert' saccade. Vestibular rehabilitation was unsuccessful in the patients with persistereduced gain and simultaneous development of 'covert' and 'overt' saccades.