Vestibular and oculomotor findings in neurologically-normal, non-concussed children

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Brain Inj
• Personal Author:
  Corwin, Daniel J. ; Zonfrillo, Mark R. ; Wiebe, Douglas J. ; Master, Christina L. ; Grady, Matthew F. ; Arbogast, Kristy B.
• Description:
  OBJECTIVE
  
  To determine the proportion of non-concussed, neurologically normal children with failures on a vestibular and oculomotor examination for concussion performed in an acute setting.
  
  DESIGN
  
  This was a cross-sectional study of subjects 6–18 years old presenting to a pediatric emergency department with non-neurologic chief complaints. The examination was administered by a pediatric emergency medicine physician, and includes assessments of dysmetria, nystagmus, smooth pursuits, saccades, gaze stability, near-point of convergence, and gait/balance testing.
  
  RESULTS
  
  Of the 295 subjects enrolled, 24% failed at least one element of testing. 13% had >1 failed element and 5% had >2 failed elements. 29% of females and 19% of males had failed examinations. By age, 15% of subjects 6–8 years old, 32% 9–11 years, 32% 12–14 years, and 26% 15–18 years had failed examinations. Overall, 10% were unable to complete the exam due to developmental age.
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  
  The provider should be aware that a proportion of non-concussed children may demonstrate failure on a single element of the vestibular and oculomotor exam for. While this testing is of benefit to the acute care provider in diagnosing pediatric concussion, its utility is greatest in the context of an injury history with acute onset of concussion symptoms.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Age Factors Brain Concussion Cerebellar Ataxia Child Cross-Sectional Studies Eye Movements Female Humans Male Nervous System Diseases Nystagmus, Pathologic Postural Balance Sex Factors Vestibule, Labyrinth

  More +
• Source:
  Brain Inj. 32(6):794-799
• Pubmed ID:
  29584455
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC6094364
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  R49 CE002474/CE/NCIPC CDC HHSUnited States/ ; R49CE002474/ACL/ACL HHSUnited States/ ; T32 NS061779/NS/NINDS NIH HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  32
• Issue:
  6
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:4ca35abc3c74b734192d996f9e11556b7b3756423a6cbef0134e74fec2cf66a8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/158014/cdc_158014_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 143.15 KB ]