Fatema Mohammed Ali1, Martin Westling2, Luke Hong Lu Zhao1, Brian D Corneil3,4, Aaron J Camp5. 1. Discipline of Biomedical Science, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. 2. The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linkoping University, Linköping, Sweden. 3. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada. 4. Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada. 5. Discipline of Biomedical Science, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. aaron.camp@sydney.edu.au.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) is a technique used to assess vestibular function. Cervical VEMPs (cVEMPs) are obtained conventionally from the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle; however, the dorsal neck muscle splenius capitis (SPL) has also been shown to be a reliable target alongside the SCM in young subjects. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare cVEMPs from the SCM and SPL in two positions across young, older, and Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. METHOD: Experiments were carried out using surface EMG electrodes placed over the SCM and SPL. cVEMPs were measured using a 30 s, 126 dB sound stimulus with 222 individual tone bursts, while subjects were in a supine and head-turned posture (also known as the head elevation method), and in a seated head-turned posture. RESULTS: When comparing cVEMPs across positions, the incidence of supine and seated SCM-cVEMPs diminished significantly in older and PD patients in comparison with young subjects. However, no statistically significant differences in incidences were found in seated SPL-cVEMPs when comparing young, older and PD patients. SPL-cVEMPs were present significantly more often than seated SCM-cVEMPs in PD patients. CONCLUSIONS: SPL-cVEMPs are not altered to the same extent that SCM-cVEMPs are by aging and disease and its addition to cVEMP testing may reduce false-positive tests for vestibulopathy.
BACKGROUND: The vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) is a technique used to assess vestibular function. Cervical VEMPs (cVEMPs) are obtained conventionally from the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle; however, the dorsal neck muscle splenius capitis (SPL) has also been shown to be a reliable target alongside the SCM in young subjects. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare cVEMPs from the SCM and SPL in two positions across young, older, and Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. METHOD: Experiments were carried out using surface EMG electrodes placed over the SCM and SPL. cVEMPs were measured using a 30 s, 126 dB sound stimulus with 222 individual tone bursts, while subjects were in a supine and head-turned posture (also known as the head elevation method), and in a seated head-turned posture. RESULTS: When comparing cVEMPs across positions, the incidence of supine and seated SCM-cVEMPs diminished significantly in older and PDpatients in comparison with young subjects. However, no statistically significant differences in incidences were found in seated SPL-cVEMPs when comparing young, older and PDpatients. SPL-cVEMPs were present significantly more often than seated SCM-cVEMPs in PDpatients. CONCLUSIONS: SPL-cVEMPs are not altered to the same extent that SCM-cVEMPs are by aging and disease and its addition to cVEMP testing may reduce false-positive tests for vestibulopathy.
Authors: Alexander Ashford; Jun Huang; Chunming Zhang; Wei Wei; William Mustain; Thomas Eby; Hong Zhu; Wu Zhou Journal: J Assoc Res Otolaryngol Date: 2016-04-22
Authors: Kim E Hawkins; Elodie Chiarovano; Serene S Paul; Hamish G MacDougall; Ian S Curthoys Journal: Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol Date: 2020-10-28 Impact factor: 2.503