Dizziness Depot

Optokinetic tracking is the part of the VNG battery where the patient is simply asked to “follow the lights” as they sail by, first in one direction, then the other. In real life, the optokinetic system kicks in when the vestibular system fails to ‘‘keep up’’ during sustained head rotation. Optokinetic tracking is similar to smooth pursuit tracking in its mechanism of

We have spent the past few weeks discussing the role of the oculomotor tests as part of the videonystagmography (VNG) exam. This week, we will devote a few paragraphs to the smooth pursuit tracking test. Smooth pursuit eye movements are used to maintain stable gaze on objects that are moving within the visual field. Focus is placed on the object

Over the past few weeks, we have been discussing the Oculomotor battery, which is a section of the VideoNystagmoGraphy (VNG) exam. Let’s take a closer look at the subtests of the Oculomotor battery. This week we will discuss Saccades. This will be a little dry if you are reading this from a patient’s perspective, but it might be useful to

  Last week, we discussed that the patient’s mental state, fatigue, and a variety of medications can affect performance on oculomotor exams. Does this mean that we should dismiss abnormalities as irrelevant? I got a question from a student a few years ago. She was curious what the referring physician would likely do after receiving a report that oculomotor performance

For those of you who have had a Videonystagmography (VNG) or Electronystagmography (ENG) exam, this is the part where you are asked to sit still and visually follow a series of moving lights, either projected on the wall, or moving along an LED light bar in front of you. Have you wondered what’s going on here? There are really two

We have all had that patient with vague complaints of “feeling spacy” after they have experienced a whiplash injury from a motor vehicle accident.  Many of them also have experienced a bump on the head, so you have to consider the possibility that they have Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, but are describing it in an unusual way.  Could their symptoms

This is the back page of a letter we send out to all patients scheduled for vestibular evaluation. We are aware that most of our patients have never even heard of much of the testing we do. We do get some amusing responses when we walk into the rotary chair room. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard,

The next two posts are part 1 and part 2 (front and back page) of a letter we send out to every patient scheduled for a vestibular evaluation. Included with this letter are some questionnaires, an appointment card, and directions to the clinic. We find that providing this information ahead of time puts patients at ease as they know what

Last week, we talked about companies popping up to offer “Balance Clinic Packages” to primary care physicians, emphasizing how profitable and easy it is. This week, we look at one example of this. A few weeks ago, one of the ENT physicians in our group received a fax from a company called Innovative Healthcare Systems (IHS). No address was given but

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. That is a gruff, but probably accurate assessment of how the field of vestibular management was severely injured by the introduction of a low cost, easy to use, quick, inexpensive tool to measure the Vestibular-Ocular Reflex (VOR) for rapid head movements. Rotational Chair testing had been, and still is, the standard