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Effects of neck muscle vibration on subjective visual vertical: comparative analysis with effects on nystagmus

  • Otology
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Abstract

In patients with unilateral vestibular dysfunction, vibratory stimulation to the neck muscles not only induces shift of the subjective visual vertical (SVV), but also enhances the generation of nystagmus. In the present study, the effects of neck vibration on the SVV were compared with those on nystagmus in patients with unilateral vestibular schwannoma (14 patients; 6 males and 8 females, mean age 54.2 years). The results indicated that the presence of nystagmus and magnitude of the SVV were generally correlated, neck vibration significantly increased the abnormal shift of the SVV and the presence of nystagmus, and the effects of vibration to the ipsilateral dorsal neck were significantly larger than those to the contralateral dorsal neck on the SVV, whereas no significant difference was observed in slow phase velocity of nystagmus. The present study suggests that both SVV and nystagmus induced by vibration have many similar clinical features and may be important in assessing the unilateral vestibular dysfunction.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Rehabilitative Auditory Science, Tohoku University Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, 1-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8574, Japan

    Tetsuaki Kawase

  2. Department of Audiology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8574, Japan

    Tetsuaki Kawase

  3. Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8574, Japan

    Tetsuaki Kawase, Atsuko Maki, Yusuke Takata, Hiromitsu Miyazaki & Toshimitsu Kobayashi

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  1. Tetsuaki Kawase
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  2. Atsuko Maki
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  3. Yusuke Takata
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  4. Hiromitsu Miyazaki
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  5. Toshimitsu Kobayashi
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Correspondence to Tetsuaki Kawase.

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Kawase, T., Maki, A., Takata, Y. et al. Effects of neck muscle vibration on subjective visual vertical: comparative analysis with effects on nystagmus. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 268, 823–827 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-010-1467-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-010-1467-9

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