Relationship between Caloric Test and Inner Ear Diseases.

The vestibular function of 148 patients with inner ear disturbance was tested repeatedly by the caloric test, during the course of clinical observations for several years.1) Patients whose caloric responses in the early stage indicated unilateral weakness and later became normal suffered from repeated attacks of vertigo more frequently than did those whose caloric responses remained unchanged through the whole course of observation.2) Patients whose first caloric responses showed unilateral weakness and later became normal experienced fluctuating hearing more often than did those whose caloric responses were always normal.3) The caloric responses showed significant changes during the clinical course in 32% of patients with Meniere's disease.4) Of the patients whose caloric responses changed during the clinical course 66% had Meniere's disease.These results lead the authors to the conclusion that performing the caloric test repeatedly is useful not only in the differential diagnosis but also in the prognosis of inner ear disturbances.