Hyperventilation-induced nystagmus in patients with vestibular neuritis in the acute and follow-up stages

Abstract

Objective: Our purposes were to characterize hyperventilation-induced nystagmus (HVIN) in patients with unilateral vestibular neuritis (VN) through follow-up examinations and to determine the effects of hyperventilation on vestibular imbalance in patients with VN.

Materials and methods: The horizontal eye movements in 35 patients with acute VN were recorded. The eye movements were analyzed and the maximum value of slow-phase eye velocity (SPV) was obtained during and after hyperventilation. Nineteen of 35 patients underwent follow-up examinations around 7 weeks later. When spontaneous nystagmus was present, the SPV of spontaneous nystagmus was subtracted from that of HVIN. A maximum SPV of HVIN of ≥4°/s was considered abnormal. The direction and SPV of HVIN were analyzed.

Results: The incidence of HVIN in patients with VN was significantly higher in the acute stage (18 of 35; 51%) than the follow-up stage (4 of 19; 21%). The direction of HVIN present in the follow-up stage was entirely towards the contralesional side (contralesional HVIN). However, the direction of HVIN in the acute stage was mixed, towards the contralesional side (10 of 35; 28%) and towards the ipsilesional side (8 of 35; 23%). The SPVs (49 ± 56°/s) of ipsilesional HVIN were significantly greater than the contralesional HVIN in the acute stage (8 ± 3°/s). Robust nystagmus (SPV ≥ 25°/s) was entirely ipsilesional HVIN, which was observed only in the acute stage.

Conclusions: Our findings indicate that hyperventilation can result in aggravation of vestibular imbalance in the acute and follow-up stages in different ways. Hyperventilation resulted in contralesional HVIN in both the acute and follow-up stages, each in approximately a fourth of the patients, which suggests a disruption of central static compensatory mechanisms. However, ipsilesional HVIN was elicited only in the acute stage (in approximately a fourth of the patients). About half of the patients with ipsilesional HVIN showed robust responses, which is a characteristic finding, suggesting a transient intense increase in vestibular activity on the lesional side.