Background: Masseter vestibular evoked myogenic potential (mVEMP) is a recent tool for the assessment of vestibular and trigeminal pathways. Though a few studies have recorded mVEMP using click stimuli, there are no reports of these potentials using the more conventional VEMP eliciting stimuli, the tone bursts.
Purpose: The aim of the study is to establish normative values and determine the test-retest reliability of tone burst evoked mVEMP.
Research design: The research design type is normative study design.
Study sample: Forty-four healthy participants without hearing and vestibular deficits in the age range of 18 to 50 years participated in the study.
Data collection and analysis: All participants underwent mVEMP testing using 500 Hz tone-burst stimuli at 125 dB peSPL. Ten participants underwent second mVEMP testing within 1 month of the initial testing to estimate the test-retest reliability.
Results: Tone burst mVEMP showed robust responses in all participants. There were no significant ear and sex differences on any mVEMP parameter (p > 0.05); however, males had significantly higher EMG normalized peak-to-peak amplitude than females. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values of tone burst mVEMP showed excellent test-retest reliability (ICC >0.75) for ipsilateral and contralateral p11 latency, ipsilateral EMG normalized p11-n21 peak to peak amplitude, and amplitude asymmetry ratio. Fair and good test-retest reliability (0.4 < ICC > 0.75) was observed for ipsilateral and contralateral n21 latency, contralateral EMG normalized peak-to-peak amplitude, and amplitude asymmetry ratio.
Conclusion: Tone burst mVEMP is a robust and reliable test for evaluating the functional integrity of the vestibulomasseteric reflex pathway.
American Academy of Audiology. This article is published by Thieme.