Introducing a New Device for Vestibular Assessment: A Review on Clinical Applications of Video Head Impulse Test

Balance is a physiological function of the body. Balance maintenance is influenced by integration of sensory information from the vestibular, visual, and somatosensory systems. Among these systems, the vestibular system deserves attention, because about 50 percent of dizzy patients suffer from vestibular disorders. The vestibular system is responsible for the stability of images on the retina during the head movements. For this purpose, during head movements, eyes move with the same amplitude but oppositely. This function drives from vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). Vestibular disorders produce the deficit in VOR and lead to appearance of refixation movements in eyes that are observable by Video Head Impulse Test (VHIT). In the present article, we have reviewed clinical applications of the VHIT.
A total of 52 studies were obtained from Pubmed, ScienceDirect, Springer, and Elsevier databases, and then reviewed systemically in order to record clinical application of the VHIT reported.
VHIT is a new device for vestibular assessment, which can be used to evaluate semicircular canals, separately and accurately. Also, employing VHIT together with Caloric test, provides a supplementary test battery for evaluating lateral semicircular canal function.VHIT is an objective and sensitive test in the diagnosis of Peripheral vestibular disorders and leads to an improvement in differential diagnosis of peripheral vestibular system disorders from central vestibular system disorders.