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Objective To evaluate the lateral semicircular canal high frequency vestibulo-oculomotor reflex (LSC HF VOR) in children with cochlear implant. Methods 16 children (10 females and 6 males, age range = 5–17 years) receiving a unilateral (n = 12) or a bilateral (n = 4) cochlear implant were included and compared to a control group of 20 age-matched normal-hearing (NH) children. Both implanted and NH children received a vestibular function test battery, including a Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex (VOR) gain assessment by means of a video-Head Impulse Test (vHIT), which represented the main outcome measure. In implanted subjects, vHIT was measured on both sides in the “CI-ON” and “CI-OFF” conditions. Results Overall, no significant LSC HF VOR gain difference was found between CI users and NH peers. In the unilaterally implanted group, the LSC HF VOR gain measured in the “CI-ON” condition was significantly higher than in the “CI-OFF” condition, both in the implanted and in the non-implanted ear. In the bilaterally implanted group there was no such a difference between the two conditions, on either side. Conclusion This is the first study investigating the LSC HF VOR gain in children with unilateral and bilateral CI. The study demonstrates that the LSC HF VOR of bilaterally implanted children is comparable to normal hearing children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: This study utilized bone-conducted vibration (BCV) stimuli for eliciting ocular vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMPs) to assess the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) system in healthy children and adults. Methods: Fifteen healthy children aged 3–14years and 18 healthy adults aged 24–28years underwent oVEMP testing. Structural factors such as body weight, body height and body mass index were measured for each healthy subject. Results: All healthy children and adults presented clear oVEMPs, bilaterally. The characteristic parameters (latencies and amplitude) of oVEMPs did not significantly differ between children and adults. The mean interaural (y-axis) acceleration magnitudes for eliciting oVEMPs were 0.37±0.12g for children and 0.41±0.20g for adults, a non-significant difference. As stimulation intensity increased stepwise, interaural acceleration magnitude increased correspondingly, leading to early nI latency and large nI–pI amplitude of oVEMPs. However, no structural factor was statistically correlated with interaural acceleration magnitude. Conclusion: When children aged >3years, the simple and quick oVEMP test via BCV stimulation can be used for investigating the integrity of the VOR system, with the characteristic parameters (latencies and amplitude) unaffected by structural factors. Significance: Establishing the norm of oVEMP is essential for diagnosing VOR deficit in children aged >3years. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The video head impulse test (vHIT) is a diagnostic tool to examine patients experiencing dizziness by assessing the function of the semicircular canals. vHIT has been widely studied in adults but relatively less so in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the causes of dizziness and the results of vHIT in children. We also identified factors that affect the vHIT results such as artifacts and technical errors. Retrospective review; Tertiary care center. A total of 39 patients who visited our clinic for dizziness from 2014 to 2017. The gain of vestibulo-ocular reflex, refixation saccades, and artifacts were analyzed using vHIT. We analyzed 691 individual vHIT traces and categorized the artifacts into 8 categories. Twenty-three males and 16 females were included. The mean age was 13.84 ± 2.60 years (range, 7–18). Common causes of dizziness were benign paroxysmal vertigo of childhood (25.6%), vestibular neuritis (20.5%), and vestibular migraine (17.9%). The sensitivity and specificity of vHIT based on the bithermal caloric test results were 40% and 94%, respectively. The analysis of vHIT traces revealed that the children had higher artifact ratios of vHIT than the adults. The main artifacts were high gain and blinking eyes. The vHIT results showed a higher percentage of artifacts in children than in the adults. More careful efforts are required to obtain more accurate results during the test, and it is necessary to check for technical errors while interpreting the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to correlate the results in the body balance exams with the reading assessments of 27 students, 16 girls and 11 boys, students of the third year of public elementary school, whose average age was 8.21 years. Methods: Children with auditory, visual, language and nonverbal intelligence deficits were discarded. Body balance was evaluated with oculomotor tests of vectoelectronystagmography (VENG) and cervical and ocular Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential. Reading of Isolated words, reading fluency and textual comprehension were evaluated. Results: The results obtained uniformly in most findings of the oculomotor tests showed no statistical difference between the right and left ear in the cervical and ocular VEMP, the reading of regular stimuli were statistically higher than the reading of irregular stimuli and pseudowords, there were no differences between the literal and inferential questions. Finally, a positive and significant correlation was found between vertical saccadic and irregular stimuli, and between horizontal pendular tracking and most reading evaluations. Ocular VEMP correlated with reading, except for inferential questions. Conclusion: The main correlation between reading and VENG oculomotor tests was with horizontal pendular tracking, which evaluates the slow movement of the eyes in the horizontal direction, the same performed during reading. Correlation between ocular VEMP and reading was evidenced, indicating that the students with the best developed vestibular-ocular reflex presented better reading results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]