Virtual reality application matches the most established treatment for Mal de Debarquement Syndrome: A non-inferiority, randomized, open clinical trial

• DOI: 10.1016/j.neurot.2024.e00390
• Publication Date: 2024-06-27T21:08:36Z
• Authors: Catho Schoenmaekers; Dario De Smet; Choi Deblieck; Jan Van Riel; Andrzej Zarowski; Floris L. Wuyts
• Keywords: Open label

Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS) is a debilitating neuro-otological disorder where individuals consistently feel self-motion, often triggered by motion like being on boat (MT-MdDS). Due to the unknown pathophysiological mechanism, available treatment options for managing symptoms are limited. Our objective was develop virtual reality application (VRA) simulate full field optokinetic stimulation (OKS) booth and evaluate its efficacy compared standard treatment. In our randomized, open, non-inferiority clinical trial with 30 ​MT-MdDS patients, 15 received OKS new VRA over four consecutive days. Two 4-min blocks were scheduled in morning afternoon, total of blocks. Treatment effectiveness evaluated through questionnaires posturography. findings suggest that choice modality does not significantly differ achieving an overall improvement symptoms. We advocate can be used as accessible alternative method worldwide, effectively mitigating MdDS enhancing QoL numerous patients.