Valores de normalidad del vHIT en niños

Abstract

The cephalic impulse test, described in 1988 by Curthoys and Halmagyi, aims to study the vestibulo-ocular reflex. The current devices reduce the stress of patients when performing the test which is very important in children. The aim of this study is to determine if the normal values of vHIT are the same in adults as in children. Method: A prospective study was carried out on 50 children who attended ENT’s office at the Santa Maria de Lleida University Hospital between January and June 2017. Children attending ENT’s office were selected for other causes not related to disturbances of balance between the 5-year age and 12 years. Results: The results show an average gain in horizontal semicircular canals of 0.9 with a standard deviation of 0.08. Discussion: The results obtained in our study in children are similar to those obtained in the general population. Previous studies are considered values of normality gains of 0.87 with a standard deviation of 0.10 and establishing pathological values of less than 0.8. The vHIT is an easy and sensitive assessment tool to evaluate vestibular function in children and the vHIT should be used as a standard test in the paediatric vestibular evaluation. Conclusions: In our opinion, the study through the vHIT is a relatively easy test to perform in children and in our study the results suggest that normal values in children are similar to the population.