Review ArticleVestibular evoked potentialsColebatch, James G.Author Information Correspondence to James G. Colebatch, Department of Neurology and School of Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, High Street, Randwick, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia. Tel: +61 2 9382 2407; fax: +61 2 9382 2428; e-mail: [email protected] Current Opinion in Neurology: February 2001 - Volume 14 - Issue 1 - p 21-26 Buy Abstract Loud clicks, short tone bursts, head taps and short duration transmastoid currents are all capable of activating vestibular receptors and evoking reflex changes in tonic electromyogram activity within the sternocleidomastoid muscles. Because they derive from averaged electromyograms, the responses are termed ‘vestibular evoked myogenic potentials’. The earliest response ipsilateral to a loud click, p13n23, is dependent upon vestibular activation, specifically saccular afferents. These new techniques are beginning to be applied clinically. An important application is in suspected cases of the Tullio phenomenon, a condition that is characterized by a pathological reduction in click threshold. The techniques have also been applied in the assessment of otolith function, vestibular neuritis, Meniere's disease and vestibular nerve tumours (acoustic neuromas). © 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.
