Three-Dimensional Vibration-Induced Vestibulo-ocular Reflex Identifies Vertical Semicircular Canal Dehiscence

Vertical semicircular canal dehiscence (VSCD) due to superior canal dehiscence (SCD) or posterior canal dehiscence (PCD) of the temporal bone causes vestibular and cochlear hypersensitivity to sound. This study aimed to characterize the vibration-induced vestibulo-ocular reflex (ViVOR) in VSCD. ViVORs in one PCD and 17 SCD patients, confirmed by CT imaging reformatted in semicircular canal planes, were measured with dual-search coils as binocular three-dimensional eye rotations induced by skull vibrations from a bone oscillator (B71—10 ohms) at 7 ms, 500 Hz, 135-dB peak-force level (re: 1 μN). The ViVOR eye rotation axes were computed by vector analysis and referenced to known semicircular canal planes. Onset latency of the ViVOR was 11 ms. ViVOR from VSCD was up to nine times greater than normal. The ViVOR’s torsional rotation was always contraversive-torsional (the eye’s upper pole rotated away from the stimulated ear), i.e. its direction was clockwise from a left and counterclockwise from a right VSCD, thereby lateralizing the side of the VSCD. The ViVORs vertical component distinguishes PCD from SCD, being downwards in PCD and upwards in SCD. In unilateral VSCD, the ViVOR eye rotation axis aligned closest to the dehiscent vertical semicircular canal axis from either ipsilateral or contralateral mastoid vibrations. However, in bilateral VSCDs, the ViVOR eye rotation axis lateralized to the ipsilateral dehiscent vertical semicircular canal axis. ViVOR was evoked in ossicular chain dysfunction, even when air-conducted click vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) was absent or markedly reduced. Hence, ViVOR could be a useful measurement to identify unilateral or bilateral VSCD even in the presence of ossicular chain dysfunction.