Recovery of Postural Control After an Acute Unilateral Vestibular Lesion in Humans

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Fetter, Michael^{; *} | Diener, Hans-Christoph | Dichgans, Johannes

Affiliations: Department of Neurology, Eberhard-Karls-University, Tübingen, Germany

Note: [*] Reprint address: Dr. M. Fetter, Department of Neurology, Hoppe-Seyler-Str. 3, D-7400 Tübingen, Germany.

Abstract: Postural control during stance was investigated using the EQUITEST® system in 10 patients during recovery after an acute unilateral vestibular lesion and was compared to the time course of recovery of the static and dynamic vestibulo-ocular imbalance. During the acute phase the patients showed a characteristic pattern with normal upright stance as long as at least one accurate sensory input (visual or somatosensory) was provided and severe postural disturbances when they had to rely primarily on vestibular afferences. Both static vestibulo-ocular and vestibulo-spinal balance recovered very fast, showing basically normal results on postural testing within about 2 weeks after the lesion. Thereafter, no pathological pattern was detectable during postural testing even in patients with persistent complete unilateral vestibular lesions. Reflexive postural responses to unexpected rapid displacements of the support surface seemed not to be influenced by vestibular imbalance even in the acute phase of the lesion.

Keywords: posture, unilateral vestibular lesion, vestibulo-spinal reflexes, vestibulo-ocular reflex

DOI: 10.3233/VES-1991-1405

Journal: Journal of Vestibular Research, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 373-383, 1991