• Unilateral loss of horizontal semicircular canal function, termedcanal paresis, is an important finding in dizzy patients. To our knowledge, apart from head-shaking nystagmus, no clinical sign of canal paresis has yet been described and the term derives from the characteristic finding on caloric tests: little or no nystagmus evoked by either hot or cold irrigation of the affected ear. We describe a simple and reliable clinical sign of total unilateral loss of horizontal semicircular canal function: one large or several small oppositely directed, compensatory, refixation saccades elicited by rapid horizontal head rotation toward the lesioned side. Using magnetic search coils to measure head and eye movement, we have validated this sign in 12 patients who had undergone unilateral vestibular neurectomy.

The head impulse test (HIT) is a useful bedside test to identify peripheral vestibular deficits. However, such a deficit of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) may not be diagnosed because corrective saccades cannot always be detected by simple observation. The scleral search coil technique is the gold standard for HIT measurements, but it is not practical for routine testing or for acute patients, because they are required to wear an uncomfortable contact lens. To develop an easy-to-use video HIT system (vHIT) as a clinical tool for identifying peripheral vestibular deficits. To validate the diagnostic accuracy of vHIT by simultaneous measures with video and search coil recordings across healthy subjects and patients with a wide range of previously identified peripheral vestibular deficits. Horizontal HIT was recorded simultaneously with vHIT (250 Hz) and search coils (1,000 Hz) in 8 normal subjects, 6 patients with vestibular neuritis, 1 patient after unilateral intratympanic gentamicin, and 1 patient with bilateral gentamicin vestibulotoxicity. Simultaneous video and search coil recordings of eye movements were closely comparable (average concordance correlation coefficient r(c) = 0.930). Mean VOR gains measured with search coils and video were not significantly different in normal (p = 0.107) and patients (p = 0.073). With these groups, the sensitivity and specificity of both the reference and index test were 1.0 (95% confidence interval 0.69-1.0). vHIT measures detected both overt and covert saccades as accurately as coils. The video head impulse test is equivalent to search coils in identifying peripheral vestibular deficits but easier to use in clinics, even in patients with acute vestibular neuritis.

Background: Quantitative head impulse test (HIT) measures the gain of the angular vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) during head rotation as the ratio of eye to head acceleration. Bedside HIT identifies subsequent catch-up saccades after the head rotation as indirect signs of VOR deficit. Objective: To determine the VOR deficit and catch-up saccade characteristics in unilateral vestibular disease in response to HIT of varying accelerations. Methods: Eye and head rotations were measured with search coils during manually applied horizontal HITs of varying accelerations in patients after vestibular neuritis (VN, n = 13) and unilateral vestibular deafferentation (UVD, n = 15) compared to normal subjects (n = 12). Results: Normal VOR gain was close to unity and symmetric over the entire head-acceleration range. Patients with VN and UVD showed VOR gain asymmetry, with larger ipsilesional than contralesional deficits. As accelerations increased from 750 to 6,000 °/sec², ipsilesional gains decreased from 0.59 to 0.29 in VN and from 0.47 to 0.13 in UVD producing increasing asymmetry. Initial catch-up saccades can occur during or after head rotation. Covert saccades during head rotation are most likely imperceptible, while overt saccades after head rotation are detectable by clinicians. With increasing acceleration, the amplitude of overt saccades in patients became larger; however, initial covert saccades also became increasingly common, occurring in up to about 70% of trials. Conclusions: Head impulse test (HIT) with high acceleration reveals vestibulo-ocular reflex deficits better and elicits larger overt catch-up saccades in unilateral vestibular patients. Covert saccades during head rotation, however, occur more frequently with higher acceleration and may be missed by clinicians. To avoid false-negative results, bedside HIT should be repeated to improve chances of detection.

Background/Hypothesis. The video Head Impulse Test (vHIT) is now widely used to test the function of each of the six semicircular canals individually by measuring the eye rotation response to an abrupt head rotation in the plane of the canal. The main measure of canal adequacy is the ratio of the eye movement response to the head movement stimulus i.e. the gain of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). However there is a need for normative data about how VOR gain is affected by age and also by head velocity, to allow the response of any particular patient to be compared to response of healthy subjects in their age range. In this study we determined for all six semicircular canals, normative values of VOR gain, for each canal across a range of head velocities, for healthy subjects in each decade of life. Study Design. The VOR gain was measured for all canals across a range of head velocities for at least 10 healthy subjects in decade age bands: 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80-89. Methods. The compensatory eye movement response to a small, unpredictable, abrupt head rotation (head impulse) was measured by the ICS Impulse prototype system. The same operator delivered every impulse to every subject. Results. VOR gain decreased at high head velocities, but was largely unaffected by age into the 80-89 year age group. There were some small but systematic differences between the two directions of head rotation, which appear to be largely due to the fact that in this study only the right eye was measured. The results are considered in relation to recent evidence about the effect of age on VOR performance. Conclusion. These normative values allow the results of any particular patient to be compared to the values of healthy people in their age range and so allow, for example, detection of whether a patient has a bilateral vestibular loss. VOR gain, as measured directly by the eye movement response to head rotation, seems largely unaffected by aging.