Article Commentary: Waiting for the evidence: VEMP testing and the ability to differentiate utricular versus saccular function

Abstract

The advent of cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (CVEMPs) marked a milestone in clinical vestibular testing because they provided a simple means of assessing human otolith function. The availability of air-conducted (AC) sound and bone-conducted vibration (BCV) to evoke CVEMPs and development of a new technique of recording ocular vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (OVEMPs) have increased the complexity of this simple test, yet extended its diagnostic capabilities. Here we highlight the evidencebased assumptions that guide interpretation of AC sound-and BCV-evoked VEMPs and the gaps in VEMP research thus far.

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