Virtual reality-based balance rehabilitation effectively improved dizziness, quality of life, and limit of stability of patients with Menière's disease.

Patients with vestibular migraine showed compromised body balance at the static posturography test.

Posturography has been used in the evaluation of patients with vestibular disorders. Aim To evaluate balance control with the Balance Rehabilitation Unit (BRU TM ) posturography in patients with Menière's disease. Study design Prospective case-control. Material and Method 30 patients diagnosed with Menière's disease and a control group consisting of 40 healthy matching individuals in relation to age and gender, were submitted to a balance function evaluation by means of a Balance Rehabilitation Unit (BRU TM ) posturography. Results Comparing patients with Menière's disease and the control group, we found significant differences between the values of the sway speed in the static force plate, down optokinetic stimulation (p=0.038) and horizontal visual vestibular interaction (p=0.049); and of the ellipse area in the static force plate, eyes closed (p=0.001); left optokinetic stimulation (p=0.007); down optokinetic stimulation (p=0.003); horizontal visual vestibular interaction (p=0.003); and vertical visual vestibular interaction (p=0.028). Conclusion The postural control assessment with the Balance Rehabilitation Unit (BRU TM ) posturography enables the identification of sway speed and ellipse area abnormalities in patients with Menière's disease.

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Introduction A patient who had no symptoms suggestive of bilateral loss of vestibular function presented no responses in rotational and caloric tests. Objectives To demonstrate the importance of the video head impulse test in neuro-otologic diagnosis. Resumed Report This patient had a neuro-otologic evaluation and presented no responses in torsion swing tests, caloric tests, and rotational tests in a Bárány chair. The video head impulse test elicited responses in four of the six semicircular canals. Conclusion Absent responses in caloric and rotatory tests alone are not sufficient to diagnose bilateral loss of vestibular function.

Introduction Postural instability is considered one of the most disabling symptoms of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Objective To evaluate postural control in patients with RRMS. Method A total of 79 individuals between 18 and 65 years old, of both genders, were distributed into an experimental group composed of patients with RRMS (n = 51) and in a control group composed by healthy individuals (n = 28). The evaluation consisted of anamnesis, Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI), visual vertigo analog scale (VVAS), and static posturography (Tetrax IBS). Results Patients with RRMS presented mild degree in the DHI and in the VVAS; in Tetrax IBS, they presented higher or lower values of the indices of general stability, weight distribution, synchronization of postural oscillation, fall risk, and frequency bands of postural oscillation in two, five or all eight sensory conditions, in relation to the control group. Vestibular, visual and/or somatosensory dysfunction of peripheral type (51.0%) prevailed over the central type. The RRMS group, with an expanded scale of disability status > 3 points, presented a higher fall risk than with a score ≤ 3 points (p = 0.003). There was a positive correlation of the Fall Risk Index with the total DHI Score (s = 0.380; p = 0.006) and with the VVAS score (s = 0.348; p = 0.012). Conclusion Patients with RRMS may present with inability to maintain postural control due to general instability, desynchronization and increased postural oscillation at frequencies that suggest deficiencies in the vestibular, visual, and somatosensory systems; as well as fall risk related to the state and intensity of functional disability and self-perception of the influence of dizziness on quality of life.