Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy: evaluation of the vestibular system with cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials.

PURPOSE: To investigate the possibility of vestibular damage in a group of patients suffering from chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) using a diagnostic protocol including the caloric test, C-VEMPs and O-VEMPs.

METHODS: Twenty patients suffering from CIDP (mean age 58.5 years, range 33-80 years; 4 women and 16 men) were investigated. To assess any eventual audio-vestibular involvement, all patients of the study underwent pure tone audiometry, Fitzgerald-Hallpike caloric vestibular test, C-VEMPs and O-VEMPs.

RESULTS: In 11 patients with CIDP values of both O-VEMPs and C-VEMPs were either absent or abnormal. An absent trace at O-VEMPs testing occurred in 36% of these pathological patients, whereas an increase of n10 latency and amplitude was present in the other 64% .

CONCLUSIONS: A specific diagnostic protocol including the caloric test, C-VEMPS, O-VEMPS, could be useful when employed for identifying vestibular damage in CIDP patients.