Posterior semicircular canal nystagmus is conjugate and its axis is parallel to that of the canal

Phillip D. Cremer, A. A. Migliaccio, D. V. Pohl, I. S. Curthoys, L. Davies, R. A. Yavor, G. M. Halmagyi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

A patient with a postoperative fistula of the left posterior semicircular canal is presented. Negative pressure in the external ear canal produced upbeat-torsional nystagmus, which was recorded in three dimensions using binocular scleral search coils. The nystagmus was conjugate, without skew deviation, and its trajectory corresponded to the anatomic axis of the left posterior canal. The current study helps validate Ewald's first law in humans: the axis of nystagmus should match the anatomic axis of the semicircular canal that generated it. This law is clinically useful in diagnosing pathology of the vestibular end-organ, such as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo or the superior semicircular canal dehiscence syndrome.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2016-2020
Number of pages5
JournalNeurology
Volume54
Issue number10
StatePublished - May 23 2000
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Binocular
  • Ewald
  • Scleral search coil
  • Skew
  • Vestibular

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

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