Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) in acoustic traumas

In this study, the presence of dizziness in the late period was investigated in patients working in the Turkish Armed Forces who exposed to blast trauma with a test battery consisting of cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMP and oVEMP) and dizziness handicap inventory (DHI). Twenty-two healthy adult volunteers (44 healthy ears) and 25 military personnel (43 patient ears) who had blast trauma were included in the study. The cVEMP and oVEMP tests with both 500 Hz tone burst (TB) and 500 Hz Narrow Band (NB) Level Specific (LS) CE-Chirp stimuli were applied to the control and patient groups. The patient group also filled in the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI). cVEMPs and oVEMPs were obtained in all 44 healthy ears in response to both TB and NB LS CE-chirp stimuli. In control group P1 and N1 latencies were significantly shorter in NB LS CE-chirp stimulus than in TB stimulus in cVEMP and oVEMP tests. When the NB LS CE-chirp stimulus was used, the P1N1 amplitude was statistically significantly larger than TB stimulus. In addition, a statistically significant lower threshold was observed in both cVEMP and oVEMP tests in NB LS CE-chirp stimulus compared to TB stimulus. The mean score of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) of the patient group was 14.80 ± 23.38 (0-88.00). In the patient group, cVEMP responses were not obtained in 3 of 43 affected ears in response to both TB and NB LS CE-chirp stimuli. While TB oVEMP response was obtained in 38 of 43 ears, NB LS CE-Chirp oVEMP response was obtained in 40 ears.In cVEMP and oVEMP tests there was no significant difference in comparison of P1 latency, N1 latency and P1N1 amplitude between control and patient groups for both TB stimulus and NB LS CE-chirp stimulus. As a result, it was observed that the functions of otolith organs were not affected in the late period after blast trauma.