Vol.101 No.12 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 101 No. 12 December 2008
A Clinical Study on Benign Paroxysmal Positional
Vertigo in Kumamoto Prefecture
Hidetake Matsuyoshi, Ryosei Minoda and Eiji Yumoto
(Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University)
We investigated the present conditions of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) in Kumamoto prefecture. Horizontal semicircular canal BPPV (H-BPPV) is not a rare finding, but this condition was found in 70.6％ of BPPV. Of H-BPPV, 80.6％ featured direction changing geotropic nystagmus, and 19.4％ direction changing apogeotropic nystagmus.
Most of the institutions participating in this investigation were medical offices without hospitalization institution, where it seemed that BPPV patients had an initial checkup. Therefore, we thought our findings reflected the present conditions of the BPPV medical examination. This present study confirmed that physical therapy was effective for H-BPPV that featured direction changing geotropic nystagmus and posterior canal BPPV. We consider it necessary to enlighten an appropriate therapeutic method about H-BPPV featured direction changing apogeotropic nystagmus.
Key words :benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), horizontal semicircular canal type, physical therapy, posterior canal type