Simplification of Clinical Caloric Test

THE FACT that thermic stimuli, when applied to the external auditory canal, could induce labyrinthine nystagmus was known by Brown-Séquard3as early as 1860, and Bornhardt2was the first to apply this knowledge experimentally by inducing caloric stimulation of the semicircular canals of pigeons. In 1906, Bárány1applied this fact clinically, when he described a test for syringing the ear with water above or below body temperature. It was a big step in the development of the caloric test when Kobrak6introduced his "minimum test" in 1922. Since the introduction of clinical caloric testing for vestibular function, the test gained gradual but progressive acceptance as an aid in otologic and neurologic diagnosis. As vestibular physiology became more clearly understood, it soon became evident that more information regarding the status of the vestibular system could be gained by performing more sophisticated caloric tests than those devised by