Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T07:11:30.115Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Vestibular substitution: comparative study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2010

S Polat  and
A Uneri
S Polat*
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Balance Center, Acıbadem Oncology and Neurology Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
A Uneri
Affiliation:
Vertigo and Balance Center, Marmara University Institute of Neurological Science, Turkey
*
Address for correspondence: Dr Senol Polat, Acıbadem Hastanesi Kozyatağı, İnönü Caddesi Okur Sokak No 20, 34742, İstanbul, Turkey. Fax: +902165714000 E-mail: senolpolat@yahoo.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

To determine the efficacy of vestibular rehabilitation with the electrotactile vestibular substitution system, as a new treatment modality in patients with bilateral vestibular disorders.

Study design and settings:

Nineteen patients with bilateral, chronic, idiopathic vestibulopathy were studied prospectively. Patients were divided to two groups. Patients in the first group were rehabilitated with the electrotactile vestibular substitution system, while patients in the second group were treated with standard vestibular rehabilitation therapy. The sensory organisation test and dizziness handicap inventory were used to compare the pre- and post-training results of both rehabilitative treatments.

Results:

All group one patients in the standardised testing subset demonstrated improved results for both the composite sensory organisation test and for the functional transfer aspect of the dizziness handicap inventory, after five days' training with the electrotactile vestibular substitution system. In contrast, group two patients showed no significant improvement in their composite sensory organisation test or dizziness handicap inventory scores after eight weeks of therapy, compared with pre-treatment levels.

Conclusion:

These preliminary results indicate the efficacy of the electrotactile vestibular substitution system in improving patients' symptoms of vestibulopathy, and constitute evidence of successful sensory substitution.

Keywords

Vestibular RehabilitationVertigoInner Ear
Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 124 , Issue 8 , August 2010 , pp. 852 - 858
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Horak, FB, Jones-Rycewicz, C, Black, FO, Shumway-Cook, A. Effects of vestibular rehabilitation on dizziness and imbalance. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1992;106:175–80CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2 Lee, H, Yi, HA, Lee, SR, Ahn, BH, Park, BR. Drop attacks in elderly patients secondary to otologic causes with Meniere's syndrome or non-Meniere peripheral vestibulopathy. J Neurol Sci 2005;232:71–6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3 Uneri, A, Polat, S. Vestibular rehabilitation with electrotactile vestibular substitution: early effects. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2009;266:1199–203CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4 Bach-y-Rita, P, Danilov, Y, Tyler, ME, Grimm, RJ. Late human brain plasticity: vestibular substitution with a tongue BrainPort human-machine interface. J Intellectica 2005;40:115–22Google Scholar
5 Uneri, A, Polat, P. Vertigo, dizziness and imbalance in the elderly. J Laryngol Otol 2008;122:466–9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6 Whitney, SL, Marchetti, GF, Schade, AI. The relationship between falls history (M&M) and computerized dynamic posturography in persons with balance and vestibular disorders. Arch Phys Mad Rehabil 2006;87:402–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7 Jacopson, GP, Newman, CW. The development of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1990;116:424–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8 Telian, SA, Shepard, NT, Smith-Wheelock, M, Hoberg, M. Bilateral vestibular paresis: diagnosis and treatment. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1991;104:67–71CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9 Cowand, JL, Wrisley, DM, Walker, M, Strasnick, B, Jacobson, JT. Efficacy of vestibular rehabilitation. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1998;118:49–54CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10 Brown, KE, Whitney, SL, Wrisley, DM, Furman, JM. Physical therapy outcomes for persons with bilateral vestibular loss. Laryngoscope 2001;111:1812–17CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11 Gillespie, MB, Minor, LB. Prognosis in bilateral vestibular hypofunction. Laryngoscope 1999;109:35–41CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12 Danilov, Y, Tyler, M. Brainport: an alternative input to the brain. J Integr Neurosci 2005;4:537–50CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13 Danilov, YP, Tyler, ME, Skinner, KL, Hogle, RA, Bach-y-Rita, P. Efficacy of electrotactile vestibular substitution in patients with peripheral and central vestibular loss. J Vestib Res 2007;17:119–30CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14 Bach-y-Rita, P. Emerging concepts of brain function. J Integr Neurosci 2005;4:183–205CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15 Tyler, M, Danilov, Y, Bach-y-Rita, P. Closing an open-loop control system: vestibular substitution through the tongue. J Integr Neurosci 2003;2:159–64CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16 Bach-y-Rita, P, Kercel, SW. Sensory substitution and the human-machine interface. Trends Cogn Sci 2003;7:541–6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17 Sampaio, E, Maris, S, Bach-y-Rita, P. Brain plasticity: ‘visual’ acuity of blind persons via the tongue. Brain Res 2001;908:204–7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18 Ptito, M, Moesgaard, SM, Gjedde, A, Kupers, R. Cross-modal plasticity revealed by electrotactile stimulation of the tongue in the congenitally blind. Brain 2005;128:606–14CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed