Vestibular evoked myogenic potential: its use in Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

INTRODUCTION Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SHL) has uncertain origin and evolution. Vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) estimates of the vestibular pathway that can not be analyzed by the other entrance examinations, which can be helpful in diagnosing the extent of hearing damage in these patients. OBJECTIVES To investigate the clinical applicability of VEMP in patients with SHL. METHODS This is a systematic review. Searches were conducted in the databases PubMed/Medline, SciELO and LILACS. Data were tabulated. RESULTS We found 45 articles, 15 of these made up the study by fitting either the inclusion factors. The objective of 60% of the studies was to determine whether the VEMP can be used as predictive hearing recovery Conclusion: VEMP may be useful as hearing recovery predictor in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss, justifying the implementation of such examination in this population.