Ocular tilt reaction with peripheral vestibular lesion.

Following inadvertent destruction of the left vestibular labyrinth during stapedectomy, a patient developed a transient abnormality of posture consisting of leftward ocular counterrolling, leftward had tilting, and a right-over-left skew deviation. This postural pattern, known as the "ocular tilt reaction," is the normal compensatory response of the dependent utricle to tilting. In this patient, the unopposed action of the intact right utricle was presumably responsible for the appearance of a normal leftward ocular tilt reaction.