NEUROLOGY 1998;51:838-844
© 1998 American Academy of Neurology
Vestibular exercises improve central vestibulospinal compensation after vestibular neuritis
M. Strupp, MD,
V. Arbusow, MD,
K. P. Maag, MD, PhD,
C. Gall, MD and
T. Brandt, MD, FRCP
From the Department of Neurology (Drs. Strupp, Arbusow, and Brandt), Medical Informatics and Biometrics (Dr. Maag), and Neurosurgery (Dr. Gall), Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Klinikum Grosshadern, Germany.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Michael Strupp, Department of Neurology, Klinikum Grosshadern, University of Munich, Marchioninistraße 15, 81366 Munich, Germany.
Objective and Background: Animal experiments have shown that central vestibular compensation of unilateral peripheral vestibular lesions can be improved by vestibular exercises. There are, however, no equivalent clinical studies on the efficacy of such specific physiotherapy on acute unilateral vestibular lesions in humans.
Design and Methods: To quantify the differential effects of specific vestibular exercised on central compensation in patients with an acute/subacute unilateral vestibular lesion (vestibular neuritis), we determined the time course of recovery of 1) the ocular torsion (OT) for the vestibulo-ocular system, 2) the subjective visual vertical (SVV) for perception, and 3) the total sway path (SP) values for postural control in 19 patients with and 20 patients without vestibular exercises. All patients had a persisting peripheral vestibular deficit for at least 30 days (statistical end point).
Results: Although normalization of OT and SVV was similar in the control and physiotherapy groups, the total SP values on day 30 after symptom onset differed significantly: 3.2 ± 1.9 m/min in the physiotherapy group and 16.9 ± 6.1 m/min in the control group (ANOVA, p < 0.001).
Conclusions: This prospective clinical study suggests that specific vestibular exercises improve vestibulospinal compensation in patients with acute peripheral vestibular lesions.
Supported by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Technology (BMBF, TP D3).
Received November 14, 1997. Accepted in final form May 9, 1998.
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