title: Long-term effects of vestibular compensation on balance control and sensory organisation after unilateral deafferentation due to vestibular schwannoma surgery.
abstract: The time-course of central adaptive mechanisms after vestibular schwannoma surgical removal allows, 3 months after surgery (middle term), a satisfactory recovery of balance control. However, the long-term evolution of postural control beyond the end of usual medical follow-up remains unknown. This longitudinal prospective study aimed to assess the long-term effects of vestibular compensation on balance control and sensory organisation in patients operated on for vestibular schwannoma. Thirty-six patients with vestibular schwannoma underwent vestibular and sensory organisation tests, shortly before and 3 months, 6 months and 1 year after surgery. Postural control performances improved 3 months after surgery compared with before surgery; they continued to improve at 6 and 12 months after surgery, especially in conditions highly soliciting vestibular information. In the long term, strategies based on sensorimotor and/or behavioural substitution seem to be reinforced and fine-tuned, particularly in complex postural situations, for which only vestibular information is reliable to control balance.
authors.affiliation: Inserm U 954, Thematic group Neurodegenerative Diseases, Neuroplasticity, Cognition, Faculty of Medicine, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, Nancy-University, UFR STAPS, Balance Control and Motor Performance, Villers-lès-Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Parietti-Winkler
authors.forename: Gérome C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Gauchard
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: Philippe P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Perrin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003390:Cranial Nerve Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D003714:Denervation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009464:Neuroma, Acoustic / Q000601:surgery*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012027:Reflex, Vestibulo-Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology*; D014724:Vestibular Function Tests; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D000159:Vestibulocochlear Nerve / Q000601:surgery*