Age-Related Changes in Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials

Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) in response to sound stimulation (500 Hz tone burst, 129 dB SPL) were studied in 1000 consecutive patients. VEMP from the ear with the larger amplitude were evaluated based on the assumption that the majority of the tested patients probably had normal vestibular function in that ear. Patients with known bilateral conductive hearing loss, with known bilateral vestibular disease and those with Tullio phenomenon were not included in the evaluation. It was found that there was an age-related decrease in VEMP amplitude and an increase in VEMP latency that appeared to be rather constant throughout the whole age span. The VEMP data were also compared to an additional group of 10 patients with Tullio phenomenon. Although these 10 patients did have rather large VEMP, equally large VEMP amplitudes were observed in a proportion of unaffected subjects of a similar age group. Thus, the finding of a large VEMP amplitude in response to a high-intensity sound stimulation is not, per se, distinctive for a significant vestibular hypersensitivity to sounds.