Role of vestibular testing in diagnosis of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

Diagnosis and treatment of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is a mixture of empiricism of particle repositioning with the rationally-based knowledge obtained from clinical observations, histopathology, and neurophysiological experiments. The recently published clinical practice guideline on BPPV makes recommendations on the management of BPPV. One of the statements discourages the use of radiographic or vestibular testing, unless the diagnosis was uncertain or there were additional signs or symptoms unrelated to BPPV. The role of video-oculography in diagnosis and treatment of BPPV is argued, since vestibular testing has provided key relevant information to understand positional nystagmus in patients with BPPV. (C) 2009 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation. All rights reserved.