Subjective visual horizontal correlates better with ocular than with cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials

Objective: To examine the relationship between widely used otolith function tests: the Subjective Visual Horizontal (SVH) and Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (VEMP). Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 301 patients who underwent SVH, ocular and cervical VEMP (oVEMP and cVEMP) tests on the same day. Correlations between the mean SVH tilt and amplitude asymmetry ratios for bone-conducted (BC) oVEMP and air-conducted (AC) cVEMP were examined. Diagnoses included vestibular neuritis, stroke, vestibular migraine, Meniere's disease, sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) and vestibular schwannoma. Results: SVH results were concordant with the oVEMP in 64% of cases and the cVEMP in 51%. Across all patients, SVH demonstrated a significant moderate correlation with BC oVEMP amplitude asymmetry ratios (r = 0.55, p < 0.001) and a weak correlation with AC cVEMP amplitude asymmetry ratios (r = 0.35, p < 0.001). A stronger correlation between SVH and oVEMPs was observed in patients with vestibular neuritis (r = 0.67, p < 0.001) and SSNHL (r = 0.76, p = 0.001). Conclusions: SVH correlates better with oVEMP than cVEMP symmetry. Significance: This finding reinforces the hypothesis of a common utricular origin for both SVH and oVEMPs which is distinct from the saccular origin of cVEMPs.