Introduction:Theabsenceofvertigoduringthecalorictest,despitearobustresponse,hasbeensuggestedtorepresentacentralvestibularsystemphenomenon.Thepurposeofthisinvestigationwastodeterminetheprevalenceofabsentcaloric-inducedvertigoperceptioninanunselectedgroupofpatientsandtoassesspossiblepredictingvariables.Methods:Prospectiveinvestigationof92unselectedpatientswhounderwentcalorictesting.Inclusioncriteriawerethateachpatientgenerateamaximumslowphasevelocity(maxSPV)15deg/secandacaloricasymmetryof10%.Followingthecaloric,patientswereasked,“Didyouhaveanysensationofmotion?”Results:Resultsshowed75%ofpatientsreportedmotionwithameanageof56.51yearscomparedtoameanageof66.55inthe25%ofpatientsreportinganabsenceofmotion.Alogisticregressionwasperformedandtheoverallmodelwasstatisticallysignificantaccountingfor29%ofthevarianceincaloricperception.ThesignificantpredictorvariableswerepatientageandmaxSPVofthecaloricresponse.Theeffectsizeforbothvariableswassmallwithanoddsratioof.9formaxSPVand1.06forage.Conclusions:ThecurrentinvestigationshowedthatbothageandmaxSPVofthecaloricresponseweresignificantpredictorsofvertigoperceptionduringthecaloricexam.However,theassociationbetweenageandcaloricperceptionisnotconclusive.Althoughthereisevidencetosuggestthatthesefindingsrepresentage-relatedchangesinthecentralprocessingofvestibularsystemstimulation,thereareadditionalunmeasuredfactorsthatinfluencetheperceptionofcaloric-inducedvertigo.
