Video Head Impulse Testing

Abstract

The bedside head impulse, first described nearly 20 years ago, is the single most useful clinical test of the human vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). The video head impulse test (vHIT), its laboratory counterpart, now enables the objective assessment of the VOR. We examine how the vHIT can be utilized in three common clinical scenarios: the acute vestibular syndrome, recurrent spontaneous vertigo, and chronic imbalance. Combined with vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs), vHIT enables assessment of all five vestibular end-organs by a clinician within the clinic itself.