Otoneurologic symptomatology in mild craniocerebral injuries in the acute period
Blagoveshchenskaia, N.S.; Tsvetkova, V.P.
Zhurnal Nevropatologii i Psikhiatrii Imeni S.S. Korsakova 85(5): 674-677
1985
ISSN/ISBN: 0044-4588 PMID: 3875193 Document Number: 251338
Vestibular disorders are observed in all cases of a mild craniocerebral injury and are often the only objective sign of the sustained trauma because loss of consciousness and neurological symptoms may not infrequently be absent. Vestibular disorders are manifested by a small clonic horizontal bilateral multiple nystagmus. The caloric test revealed bilateral elevation of the caloric nystagmus in terms of duration and nature, with a regular alteration of the nystagmic phases. From the 5th to the 10th day after the injury there was an increase in asymmetric caloric nystagmus. Mild craniocerebral injury was characterized by an increase in sensory and vegetative responses after calorization. Spontaneous nystagmus and bilateral hyperreflexia of the caloric nystagmus were most expressed in the first 4 days and an increase in sensory and vegetative reactions within the first 9 days. Two weeks after a mild craniocerebral injury the vestibular disturbances were completely or partially compensated for by all parameters, which was expressed in the disappearance of the spontaneous nystagmus and the predominance of the symmetrically inhibited caloric nystagmus in the absence of sensory-vegetative reactions. In patients with diseases involving the cerebral vessels, compensation of vestibular disorders following a mild injury tends to be slower.