Dynamic posturography and caloric test results in patients with and without vertigo

Patients with dizziness were evaluated with caloric stimulation and with dynamic platform posturography (Neurocom Equitest). The ability of these tests to detect abnormalities in patients with and without vertigo was assessed. In 159 patients, roughly a third had abnormal calorics while half experienced one or more 'falls' during posturography. Calorics revealed proportionately more abnormalities in patients with vertigo, whereas posturography alone did not distinguish between patients with or without vertigo. Posturography did, however, identify abnormalities in a third of patients with normal calorics, regardless of their history of vertigo. Overall, more patients with vertigo had at least one abnormal test result (70%) compared with patients without vertigo (47%). We conclude that caloric abnormalities correlate with a history of vertigo, whereas posturographic deficits can be identified regardless of the presence of vertigo.