Research Article

Assessment of saccular function in pediatric candidates for cochlear implant by performing vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials

Abstract

Background and Aim: The cochlea and vestibule are related developmentally. Therefore individuals with severe to profound sensourineural hearing loss have additional risk for vestibular dysfunction. The aim of this study was to assess saccular function using vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) in children with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) who are candidates for cochlear implant.
Methods: Thirty children (17 males and 13 females) with bilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss in the age range of 3-15 years participated in this study. 17 children (9 males and 8 females) with normal hearing in the age range of 3-13 years participated as the control group. All children in each group were evaluated for saccular function by performing vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials in both ears.
Results: Comparison of mean threshold values between the two groups revealed statistically significant difference (p<0.05). In addition, comparison of mean amplitude values between the two groups revealed statistically significant difference (p<0.05). However, comparison of p13 and n23 latency values between the two groups revealed no significant difference (p>0.05). Out of the 30 children with bilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss eight children (26.66%) had absent VEMP responses in both ears.
Conclusion: Children with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss who are candidates for cochlear implant had more potential for saccular abnormalities compared to normal-hearing children. Therefore, assessment of vestibular function is very important in this population.

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IssueVol 23 No 4 (2014) QRcode
SectionResearch Article(s)
Keywords
Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials sensorineural hearing loss cochlear implant saccule
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Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Lotfi Y, Farahani A, Moossavi A, Eftekharian A, Ajalloian M, Bakhshi E. Assessment of saccular function in pediatric candidates for cochlear implant by performing vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials. Aud Vestib Res. 2017;23(4):84-92.