Benign paroxysmal positioning vertigo: diagnosis and therapy using video-oculographic control.

In this prospective study, 82 patients (40 males, 42 females, aged between 15 and 80 years) with benign paroxysmal positioning vertigo (BPPV) were treated with different positioning manoeuvres using video-oculographic control. The maximum age for females and males was 31 and 40 years respectively. After an interview about the special history related to vertigo imbalance symptoms and using video-oculographic control, we diagnosed 79 patients with BPPV of the posterior semicircular canal and 3 of the horizontal semicircular canal. The Dix-Hallpike and Cawthorne manoeuvres were used for the diagnosis of BPPV of the posterior semicircular canal and the McClure manoeuvre for the diagnosis of BPPV of the horizontal semicircular canal. 72% of the patients had an idiopathic BPPV and 12.2% were post-traumatic. 3.7% had BPPV after ear surgery and 2.4% were pregnant. 39 patients with posterior BPPV were treated with Semont's manoeuvre and 40 with Epley's. The 3 patients with horizontal BPPV were treated with Baloh's manoeuvre. More than half of the patients (52.5%) were free of symptoms after one session of Epley's manoeuvre and all of them after four sessions. 51.3% had no further symptoms after one session of Semont's manoeuvre and all of them after four sessions. These results, in agreement with the literature, show that the success rate of Semont's and Epley's manoeuvres is approximately the same. Video-oculographic control is helpful for the diagnosis and for the registration of the eye movements during the therapeutic manoeuvres. Copyright 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel