Definition
Definition
Vestibular syndrome is a syndrome (set of symptoms) that refers to damage to the vestibular system, which plays an important role in our sense of balance and movement.
Classification
We distinguish:
- Le peripheral syndrome by reaching the labyrinth or the vestibular nerve.
- Le central syndrome by damage to the vestibular bulbar nuclei and afferent pathways. These latter are islands of gray matter drowned in the white matter located in the spinal bulb (area of the central nervous system located below the brain and above the spinal cord). Afferent pathways are the set of nerve bundles arriving in the central nervous system from the periphery and carrying nerve stimuli, messages from the outside).
- Le mixed syndrome, result of a particular attitude of the subject due to trauma to the cervical spine
- Le Meniere's vertigo.
- Insufficient circulation to the brain or cervical spine.
- A posterior cervical sympathetic syndrome.
Anatomy
The membranous labyrinth consists of a network of small pockets containing:
- L'endolymph (lymphatic fluid), and including the semicircular canals (which are the organs of balance).
- Le vestibule with theutricle.
- Le saccule.
- The cochlear duct (which is the organ of hearing).
Symptoms
Symptoms
Symptoms of vestibular syndrome include:
- The dizziness.
- The balance disorders.
- A body malpositions during movement and rest.
- Un nystagmus (involuntary low-amplitude oscillating and rotating movements of the eyeball).
Medical exam
Physical examination
Vestibular receptivity tests, and more specifically theBarany test. This test consisting of provoking a nystagmus rotary (incessant rotary movement of the eyes), by injecting cold water at 12°C, or hot water at 45-50°C, into the external auditory canal, the subject's head being tilted backward. This nystagmus is directed towards the ear that is not irrigated, when irrigation is done with cold water, and towards the irrigated side when irrigation is done with hot water. Normally, the nystagmus persists for 1 to 2 minutes, and the body tends to deviate to the opposite side. The symptoms presented by the patient are always identical, complete, and enter into a harmonious whole. In other words, the shock of the nystagmus is slow, and the deviation of the arms that are stretched out, as well as that of the body, are on the same side.
When it comes to a peripheral syndrome, that is, an attack on the labyrinth of the vestibular nerve, the symptoms are variable. In this case, the nystagmus twitch is slow, and the deviation of the outstretched arms, as well as that of the body, occurs on different sides.