Case 4 — Brief positional vertigo, normal vHIT

Vignette
A 59-year-old woman reports 5 days of brief spinning vertigo whenever she rolls to the right in bed or looks up. Each spell lasts about 20 seconds. There is no constant unsteadiness, no hearing loss, no headache. Dix-Hallpike to the right produces brief up-beat torsional nystagmus with vertigo, settling spontaneously. The treating physiotherapist obtains a vHIT prior to repositioning.

Six-canal vHIT

0100200R latg=0.940100200L latg=0.960100200R antg=0.890100200L antg=0.880100200R postg=0.860100200L postg=0.87

Audiogram

2505001k2k4k8k020406080100120Frequency (Hz)Hearing level (dB HL)○ right× left

What does the normal vHIT tell you?

References

  1. Halmagyi GM, Chen L, MacDougall HG, Weber KP, McGarvie LA, Curthoys IS. The video head impulse test. Frontiers in Neurology 2017;8:258.
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