Caloric-vHIT Dissociation in Vestibular Migraine: An Observational, Retrospective Case Series Study

: Caloric-vHIT (CalHiT) dissociation has been considered highly characteristic of Ménière's disease (MD), but its occurrence in vestibular migraine (VM) remains incompletely characterized. Objective : The primary aim was to characterize, through detailed longitudinal analysis, the clinical and mechanistic heterogeneity underlying caloric-vHIT dissociation in seven patients with definite VM in a retrospective cohort....

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Caloric-vHIT dissociation appears in a subset of vestibular migraine patients; clinicians should factor this pattern into differential diagnosis to avoid misclassifying vestibular migraine as Ménière's disease, though the retrospective case-series design limits the strength of this guidance.

Distinguishing vestibular migraine from Ménière's disease is a persistent clinical challenge, and characterizing test-dissociation patterns could refine diagnostic protocols and reduce misdiagnosis rates.

1. 01Caloric-vHIT dissociation — mismatched results between two inner-ear function tests — was identified in vestibular migraine patients.
2. 02The dissociation pattern in vestibular migraine was compared to that seen in Ménière's disease.
3. 03Retrospective case-series design limits causal inference and generalizability.
4. 04Findings may help clinicians navigate a common and difficult differential diagnosis.
5. 05Results support considering test-battery context when interpreting vestibular function.

PMID

42513282

DOI

10.3390/jcm15145369.

Journal

Journal of Clinical Medicine

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

4

Population

Patients diagnosed with vestibular migraine

Intervention

Caloric testing and video Head Impulse Test (vHIT)

Comparator

Patients with Ménière's disease