Prognostic assessments of medical therapy and vestibular testing in post-traumatic migraine-associated dizziness patients

Normative values for the Sensory Organization Test in an active duty military cohort

BACKGROUND

Computerized dynamic posturography is commonly used to assess balance in service members, but normative values for the military population have not been established.

RESEARCH QUESTION

What are the normative values for the Motor Control Test (MCT), Sensory Organization Test (SOT) and the enhanced SOT (eSOT) within the military population and at which point do they differ?

METHODS

Cross-sectional study. 237 active duty service members (78 % male) completed the MCT, SOT and the eSOT with the sway manipulated at a gain of 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.8, or 2.0. A Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the means of men and women for the SOT and MCT composite scores. A Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to compare the means of age groups for the SOT composite score. An independent t-test was used to compare the SOT composite scores from our military population to the manufacturer's normative (civilian) data. The means and standard deviations for the eSOT scores were reported for each gain. Paired-samples t-tests were performed to compare the SOT composite score with the eSOT composite score for each level of gain.

RESULTS

There was no difference between SOT composite scores for men and women (Mann-Whitney U = 4363.50, p = 0.19) or among age groups (Kruskal-Wallis = 2.77, p = 0.25). The mean SOT composite scores were not different from the manufacturer's normative values (p = 0.155). SOT composite scores were significantly higher than eSOT composite scores for gains of 1.4 (t = 3.16, p = 0.003), 1.6 (t = 5.73, p < 0.001), 1.8 (t = 5.26, p < 0.001) and 2.0 (t = 5.89, p < 0.001). MCT composite scores were lower in the 18-26 year old than the 36-45 year old age group (p = 0.013).

SIGNIFICANCE

This study establishes normative values for the MCT, SOT and eSOT in active duty military service members. The results suggest that the manufacturer's normal values are appropriate for making judgments about the postural stability of service members.

The Treatment of Vestibular Migraine: A Narrative Review

Vestibular migraine (VM) is one of the most debilitating chronic diseases that is currently underdiagnosed and undertreated. The treatment of VM is a dynamic and rapidly advancing area of research. New developments in this field have the potential to improve the diagnosis and provide more individualized treatments for this condition. In this review, we discussed the progress of evidence-based treatment of VM, including pharmacotherapy and nonmedical methods. A search of the literature was conducted up to September 2019. In order to control or cure VM, patients should follow three steps. First, patients should comply with diet and behavioral medication; Second, during the attack of VM, patients should take medicine to control the symptoms. These acute attack treatment of VM consists of antiemetic medications (e.g., dimenhydrinate and benzodiazepines), anti-vertigo medicine, and analgesics (e.g. triptans). Third, prophylactic medicine (e.g., propranolol, topiramate, valproic aid, lamotrigine, and flunarizine) can be used to reduce the frequency and severity of VM attack. Also, vestibular rehabilitation (VR) treatment should be considered for all VM. Meanwhile, we also propose to establish a culture of prevention which is essential for reducing the personal, social and economic burden of VM.

Vestibular Assessment in Patients with Persistent Symptoms of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Aim

The estimated worldwide incidence of TBI is 10 million cases per year. Dizziness and imbalance are two common symptoms in mild TBI (mTBI). In about 10-15% of TBI patients, these symptoms remain for a long time and may show no recovery. These persistent symptoms may relate to different factors including vestibular abnormalities. The aim of this study is a vestibular assessment of patients with persistent symptoms of mTBI by different tests including computerized dynamic posturography.

Materials and Methods

21 patients with mTBI evaluated in this study. Patients were civilians with persistent symptoms. TBI did cause by blunt force trauma (mainly from falling) in the past 6 months. They had normal neurologic and musculoskeletal assessments and no temporal bone fracture. Several auditory and vestibular evaluations were performed for each patient. They included: case history, otoscopy, pure tone and speech audiometry, tympanometry, vestibular bedside examination (spontaneous nystagmus, gaze, saccade, pursuit, Dix-Hallpike maneuver, side-lying maneuver, roll, and Romberg test), cervical Vestibular Myogenic Evoked Potential (c-VEMP), Computerized Dynamic Posturography (CDP) and Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI).

Results

Patients showed hearing loss in 10 (47.6%) and tinnitus in 4 (19.0%) cases. In ocular motor tests, patients had the most abnormal results in the pursuit test. 6 patients also had Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) in the posterior canal. c-VEMP showed abnormal saccular function in 14 patients. In CDP, the composite scores were decreased relative to normal populations.

Conclusion

vestibular tests showed abnormal results in most patients. Vestibular abnormality could relate to persisting symptoms of mTBI patients.

Post-traumatic balance disorder

The causes of balance disorder are many and various, and the subjective syndrome of cranial trauma patients is diagnosed by elimination. Progress in otoneurologic functional exploration and brain imaging, however, now generally allow this functional complaint to be given an objective basis. In recent years, new diagnoses have improved recognition of such pathologies in the appraisal of corporal injury for compensation purposes. The present article seeks to detail etiology and, by a review of the literature, to determine factors liable to influence management and appraisal in particular.

Locomotor sensory organization test: a novel paradigm for the assessment of sensory contributions in gait

Feedback based balance control requires the integration of visual, proprioceptive and vestibular input to detect the body's movement within the environment. When the accuracy of sensory signals is compromised, the system reorganizes the relative contributions through a process of sensory recalibration, for upright postural stability to be maintained. Whereas this process has been studied extensively in standing using the Sensory Organization Test (SOT), less is known about these processes in more dynamic tasks such as locomotion. In the present study, ten healthy young adults performed the six conditions of the traditional SOT to quantify standing postural control when exposed to sensory conflict. The same subjects performed these six conditions using a novel experimental paradigm, the Locomotor SOT (LSOT), to study dynamic postural control during walking under similar types of sensory conflict. To quantify postural control during walking, the net Center of Pressure sway variability was used. This corresponds to the Performance Index of the center of pressure trajectory, which is used to quantify postural control during standing. Our results indicate that dynamic balance control during locomotion in healthy individuals is affected by the systematic manipulation of multisensory inputs. The sway variability patterns observed during locomotion reflect similar balance performance with standing posture, indicating that similar feedback processes may be involved. However, the contribution of visual input is significantly increased during locomotion, compared to standing in similar sensory conflict conditions. The increased visual gain in the LSOT conditions reflects the importance of visual input for the control of locomotion. Since balance perturbations tend to occur in dynamic tasks and in response to environmental constraints not present during the SOT, the LSOT may provide additional information for clinical evaluation on healthy and deficient sensory processing.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention trial of 3 and 10 mg sublingual melatonin for post-concussion syndrome in youths (PLAYGAME): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background

By the age of sixteen, one in five children will sustain a mild traumatic brain injury also known as concussion. Our research found that one in seven school children with mild traumatic brain injury suffer post-concussion syndrome symptoms for three months or longer. Post-concussion syndrome is associated with significant disability in the child and his/her family and yet there are no evidence-based medical treatments available. Melatonin has several potential mechanisms of action that could be useful following mild traumatic brain injury, including neuroprotective effects. The aim of this study is to determine if treatment with melatonin improves post-concussion syndrome in youths following mild traumatic brain injury. Our hypothesis is that treatment of post-concussion syndrome following mild traumatic brain injury with 3 or 10 mg of sublingual melatonin for 28 days will result in a decrease in post-concussion syndrome symptoms compared with placebo.

Methods/Design

Ninety-nine youths with mild traumatic brain injury, aged between 13 and 18 years, who are symptomatic at 30 days post-injury will be recruited. This study will be conducted as a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled superiority trial of melatonin. Three parallel treatment groups will be examined with a 1:1:1 allocation: sublingual melatonin 3 mg, sublingual melatonin 10 mg, and sublingual placebo. Participants will receive treatment for 28 days. The primary outcome is a change on the Post-Concussion Symptom Inventory (Parent and Youth). The secondary outcomes will include neurobehavioral function, health-related quality of life and sleep. Neurophysiological and structural markers of change, using magnetic resonance imaging techniques and transcranial magnetic stimulation, will also be investigated.

Discussion

Melatonin is a safe and well-tolerated agent that has many biological properties that may be useful following a traumatic brain injury. This study will determine whether it is a useful treatment for children with post-concussion syndrome. Recruitment commenced on 4 December 2014.

Trial registration

This trial was registered on 6 June 2013 at ClinicalTrials.gov. Registration number: NCT01874847.