A COMPARISON OF TEST-RETEST VARIABILITY OF CALORIC INDUCED NYSTAGMUS IN A NORMAL POPULATION USING AN AIR STIMULUS PRESENTED VIA A STANDARD AND MODIFIED IRRIGATING PROBE

The caloric test has traditionally been carried out using water. Air c aloric techniques have been available for some time but one of the rep orted disadvantages is the high variability of response (Coats et al., 1976). The aim of this study was to compare the test-retest variabili ty of the air caloric response using a normal irrigation probe and a m odified probe. The modified probe allowed observation of the placement of the probe tip within the ear canal and could be used to observe th e direction of air flow during the irrigation. It was found that the v ariability with the modified probe is smaller than with the normal pro be.