The significance of 180-degree head rotation in supine roll test for horizontal canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The relatively low success rate of the treatment maneuver for horizontal semicircular canal (HSC) benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) may be caused by the difficulty determining the affected side. We developed a 180-degree supine roll test (SRT) by modifying the 90-degree SRT to increase diagnostic accuracy and evaluated its significance.

STUDY DESIGN: A prospective study.

SETTING: Tertiary referral center.

PATIENTS: A total of 122 patients with HSC-BPPV performed both the 90- and 180-degree SRTs.

INTERVENTIONS: The affected side was determined by the 90- and 180-degree SRTs. The bow and lean (BL) test was also performed in cases with ambiguous or opposite results on both SRTs.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: A comparison of the difference in slow phase velocity (SPV) of nystagmus among the 90- and 180-degree SRTs and BL test.

RESULTS: The maximum SPV of nystagmus during the 180-degree SRT was significantly greater than that during the 90-degree SRT. The SPV difference was less in the 180-degree SRT than that in the 90-degree SRT. Although the 180-degree SRT showed fewer meaningful results (n = 65) than the 90-degree SRT (n = 71), the affected side was determined by the 180-degree SRT in 15 cases with ambiguous results on the 90-degree SRT. Among 10 cases showing opposite results, 7 were identified by the BL test. Five (71.4%) of 7 cases had consistent affected sides with the 180-degree SRT.

CONCLUSION: The 180-degree SRT can be an additional method when it is difficult to determine the affected side from the 90-degree SRT.