Static and dynamic otolith reflex function in people with Parkinson's disease.

a.sfakia shared this article with you from Inoreader Static and dynamic otolith reflex function in people with Parkinson's disease. Via http://link.springer.com/journal/405,European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology,The European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino Related Articles Static and dynamic otolith reflex function in people with Parkinson's disease. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2020 Oct 28;: Authors: Hawkins KE, Chiarovano E, Paul SS, MacDougall HG, Curthoys IS Abstract PURPOSE: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with possible vestibular system dysfunction. This study reports the transient and sustained functions of the otoliths and their reflex pathways in PD compared to healthy controls (HC) and determines if otolith function relates to previous fall history. METHODS: Forty participants with PD and 40 HC had their otolith function assessed. Transient saccular and utricular-mediated reflexes were assessed by cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMPs and oVEMPs, respectively) elicited by air-conducted stimulus (clicks) and bone-conducted vibration (light tendon hammer taps). Static otolith function was assessed by the Curator Subjective Visual Vertical (SVV) test. RESULTS: Compared to HC, the PD group had significantly more absent cVEMP responses to both clicks (47.5% vs. 30%, respectively, p = 0.03) and taps (21.8% vs. 5%, respectively, p = 0.002). Only the PD group had bilaterally absent tap cVEMPs, this was related to previous falls history (p < 0. 001). In both groups, click oVEMPs were predominantly absent, and tap oVEMPs were predominantly present. The PD group had smaller tap oVEMP amplitudes (p = 0.03) and recorded more abnormal SVV responses (p = 0.01) and greater error on SVV compared to HC, p < 0.001. SVV had no relationship with VEMP responses (p = 0.14). CONCLUSIONS: PD impacts on cVEMP reflex pathways but not tap oVEMP reflex pathways. Bone-conducted otolith stimuli (taps) are more robust than air-conducted sound stimuli (clicks) for both o and cVEMPs. A lack of association between SVV and VEMP responses suggest that static and dynamic otolith functions are differentially affected in PD. PMID: 33112983 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.