Gait analysis in labyrinthine disorders

The peculiarities of gait disturbances of patients with labyrinthine disturbances were examined by a 3-step gait test. (1) Information on the characteristics of the gait disturbance was obtained in each examinee. (2) While walking 10 m with the eyes open and closed, the stability of the body, coordination of the head, trunk and extremities, step length, step width, and time required for walking 10 m were recorded. (3) Head movements in the vertical, rightleft and forward-backward directions were recorded by a pen oscillograph on a polygraph and also on a PDP-11 computer disc. The power spectrum and autocorrelation were calculated from the recordings.1. Patients with unilateral labyrinthine disturbances complained of staggering toward the affected side when walking with eyes closed. In the 10m walking, step length was short, gait was slow and step width was broader than in normal subjects. During walking, the vertical head movement was less and the right-left sway more than in normal subjects.2. Patients with bilateral loss of labyrinthine excitability complained of inability to control their legs and staggering. During the 10 m walk, shortness of step, tardiness of gait, and broadness of step width were marked. The right-left sway of the head during walking increased and the vertical movement decreased, and an irregular forward-backward sway of the head appeared, indicating a disturbance of linear progressive movement.