Balance Rehabilitation Unit (BRU) posturography in Menière's disease.

UNLABELLED: Posturography has been used in the evaluation of patients with vestibular disorders.

AIM: To evaluate balance control with the Balance Rehabilitation Unit (BRU) posturography in patients with Menière's disease.

STUDY

DESIGN

Prospective case-control.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: 30 patients diagnosed with Menière's disease and a control group consisting of 40 healthy matching individuals in relation to age and gender, were submitted to a balance function evaluation by means of a Balance Rehabilitation Unit (BRU) posturography.

RESULTS

Comparing patients with Menière's disease and the control group, we found significant differences between the values of the sway speed in the static force plate, down optokinetic stimulation (p=0.038) and horizontal visual vestibular interaction (p=0.049); and of the ellipse area in the static force plate, eyes closed (p=0.001); left optokinetic stimulation (p=0.007); down optokinetic stimulation (p=0.003); horizontal visual vestibular interaction (p=0.003); and vertical visual vestibular interaction (p=0.028).

CONCLUSION

The postural control assessment with the Balance Rehabilitation Unit (BRU) posturography enables the identification of sway speed and ellipse area abnormalities in patients with Menière's disease.