Chirp Evoked Vestibular Myogenic Potentials Recorded from the Trapezius Muscle in Healthy Young Adults

Purpose: Trapezius vestibular evoked myogenic potential (tVEMP) has been a recent test tool used to assess the vestibular pa thway. Several previous studies have proven that the trapezius muscle serves as an alternative placement for vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) responses from the sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM). Though few previous studies have been done on tVEMP using a click stimulus, the lack of research utilizing a chirp stimulus led to a strong rationale for this study. The study aims to establish normative data and determine any ear and gender-related differences in chirp-evoked tVEMP.Methods: The study participants include 20 young adults (10 male and female) with no auditory or vestibular complaints. The research design follows a normative study design. For all the participants, tVEMP testing was conducted at 125 dB sound pressure level using a chirp stimulus.Result: Chirp-evoked tVEMP responses were robust for all the participants. The results showed no significant gender-related differences in any tVEMP parameter (p > 0.05). However, contrary to the initial statement, comparison of rectified amplitude between genders for the left ear revealed a significantly higher rectified amplitude than in the right ear. On the other hand, the mean value of the asymmetry ratio (P1-N1) was found to be greater in females than in males.Conclusion: Chirp-evoked tVEMP is a robust and reliable test, which makes tVEMP an alternative for VEMP testing, where SCM responses were difficult to obtain.