Vestibular responses to rotation in the newborn infant.

By MARGARET M. LAWRENCE, M.D.,* AND CARL R. FEIND, M.D.t Neu’ York City T HE need for exact knowledge of the normal vestibular response of young subjects to artificial stimulation became apparent to one of the authors while testing a group of patients with H. influenzae meningitis who had been treated with streptomycin. In addition to its importance in detecting vestibular damage caused by streptomycin, such information is of value in examining the cranial nerves of the newborn infant to identify congenital defects and birth injuries, and at later ages to confirm the presence of postnatal injuries and diseases. To date, evaluation of the normal vestibular function in the newborn and young infant has been inadequate. This study is an attempt to perfect a technic or appraise the results of a simple vestibular test in infants and children. This report concerns the vestibular response of 64 newborn infants to various stimuli. These infants were all healthy and were considered normal. Their ages varied from 3 hours to 10 days, and their weights between 2.2 to 4.0 kg. Sex and cultural background were disregarded. Caloric tests proved unsatisfactory at this age, because of smallness of the external canal and apparent discomfort to the infants manifested by their crying and tight closing of eyes, which made observation of nystagmus impossible. The following gives methods and results of rotation testing.