Getting your head around vestibular assessments is a 2018 WCA (World Congress of Audiology) Pre-Congress Workshop that is scheduled to take place on Saturday 27 October 2018. It will be hosted at the new Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital which is walking distance fromthe Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
There is a lack of consistency amongst vestibular examination protocols and practitioners. Our experience is that it is not performed and interpreted in a uniform manner:
1. Without proper application of the anatomy and physiology
2. Without adequate focus on clinical signs and symptoms and
3. Without proper understanding and knowledge of each test/examination procedure and consideration of ‘standardization’ and test artefacts.
All above factors negatively affect the interpretation of examination results, diagnosis and therefore the effective management of patients. The consequence has a negative ripple effect on the referring specialist, multi-disciplinary vestibular team member and ultimately on the patient as well.
The aim is to present a comprehensive workshop of basic knowledge and a practical demonstration of each of the subtests of the vestibular/balance examination ‘test battery’. It will address, demonstrate and propose a ‘standardized’ uniform approach. This will support practitioners/examiners who perform and interpret vestibular assessments to obtain objective and reliable results to support accurate diagnoses and optimal patient management.
The workshop is intended for audiologists, ear nose and throat (ENT) surgeons, neurologists, physiotherapists, electrophysiologists and all other health practitioners that evaluate and perform equipment based vestibular testing on patients suffering from dizziness, vertigo and balance disorders. It is organised by Mariet du Plooy, an audiologist from the South African Association of Audiologists (SAAA) and myself who will co-present the workshop with Prof Michael Strupp (neurologist) from Munich, Germany.
Getting your head around vestibular assessments will be sponsored by Abbott, Amtronix (Otometrics) and OticonMedical (Interacoustics and Micromedical).
