Vestibular Development of Children with Inner Ear Malformation and Cochlear Nerve Deficiency

Abstract

Motor development in children with inner ear malformation or cochlear nerve deficiency (CND) is often delayed. A reason for delayed head control and independent walking may be the loss of muscle from the vestibule, and, thus, sufficient tension cannot be maintained. A total of 12 children with bilateral inner ear malformation and 4 children with bilateral CND were studied. The development of head control and independent walking in all of the children with bilateral inner ear malformation and bilateral CND was delayed. For evaluation of vestibular function, a damped-rotational chair test was performed, and the horizontal nystagmus was recorded by using an electronystagmography (ENG). These 10 of 12 children with bilateral inner ear malformation and two of four children with bilateral CND showed reduced response to the rotational chair test at the initial time. The follow-up examination performed in all of the children with bilateral inner ear malformation whose vestibular function appeared was compared with the initial examination. The development of motor function in children with bilateral inner ear malformation and CND is related with not only central compensation but also vestibular development.