Abnormalities in posturography and estimations of visual vertical and horizontal in multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Twenty-seven patients with mild multiple sclerosis were tested with the dynamic posturography protocol used in the NeuroCom Equitest procedure. The purpose of this study was to determine if the standard test procedure elicited a pattern of responses that would suggest the possibility of multiple sclerosis during differential diagnosis of a patient with dysequilibrium. In addition, the patients' ability to align a light bar to vertical and horizontal was tested with the head erect and with the head tilted 45 degrees to the right and left shoulder. There was a pattern of abnormality in the Equitest motor coordination tests. Only one patient produced normal scores in both the latency and adaptation tests. No pattern of error was noted in the sensory organization tests. In the visual alignment tests, only 3 of the 27 patients tested produced values that were within normal limits for the three different head positions. Visual alignment and the motor coordination tests are not specific for multiple sclerosis, but poor performance probably indicates a disruption of the integration of visual, vestibular, and somatosensory information. Although patients with early multiple sclerosis and patients with purely vestibular disorders often have similar complaints, they have quite different profiles of abnormalities in posturography testing.