Balance disturbances in individuals with vibroacoustic disease

Introduction: In previous studies, patients with vibroacoustic disease (VAD ) presented hyperintense foci in T2 of the cerebral white matter, brainstem and basal nuclei. The most probable etiology is ischemia. One of the most frequent complaints of these patients is balance disturbances which, in two cases, has threatened the patients' ability to maintain their jobs. The pu rpose of this study was to compare two methods, one neurophysiological (aud itory evoked potentials - AEP) and the other structural imaging (brain MRI) , in order to determine to what extent the changes detected with these meth ods may be related to each other in this pathology. Methods: Twenty individ uals occupationally exposed to large pressure amplitude (greater than or eq ual to 90 dB SPL) and low frequency (less than or equal to 500 Hz) noise, r eceived neurological and otorhinolaryngological examinations. All of them h ad previously received audiograms, tympanograms and electronystagmograms. A ll 20 patients also received brain MRI and AEP studies. Results: The indivi duals With vertigo and changes of the AEP present the greater number of cha nges in the brain MRI. Conclusion: This could be an indication that in many VAD cases vertigo may have a central origin.