Efficacy of mastoid oscillation and the Gufoni maneuver for treating apogeotropic horizontal benign positional vertigo: a randomized controlled study

To determine the immediate and short-term efficacies of mastoid oscillation vs. Gufoni maneuver in treating the apogeotropic type of horizontal canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (HC-BPPV), we designed a randomized, prospective, sham-controlled study. In eight dizziness clinics in Korea, 209 consecutive patients with apogeotropic HC-BPPV were enrolled. The patients were randomly assigned to receive a single application of Gufoni ( n = 70), mastoid oscillation ( n = 67), or sham maneuver ( n = 72). Immediate and second-day responses were determined based on the results within 1 h after a single trial of each maneuver and the following day, respectively. Second-day response was assessed in patients who were non-responders on the first day. The short-term response was determined based on the cumulative response for 2 days. Successful treatment was defined as a resolution of positional nystagmus or as a transition into geotropic horizontal nystagmus (not requires vertigo symptom resolution). The immediate responses of the Gufoni maneuver (33/70, 47.1%) and mastoid oscillation (32/67, 47.8%) were better than the sham maneuver (14/72, 19.4%) ( p = 0.00). The second-day results did not differ among the three groups ( p = 0.76). The short-term responses showed better efficacies with the Gufoni maneuver (51/70, 76.1%) and mastoid oscillation (46/67, 71.9%) than with the sham maneuver (38/72, 53.5%) ( p = 0.02). Therapeutic efficacies did not differ between the Gufoni and mastoid oscillation groups in terms of both immediate and short-term outcomes ( p = 0.94, 0.57). Both the Gufoni maneuver and mastoid oscillation are valid methods for treating apogeotropic HC-BPPV, with a success rate of approximately 70% for a single maneuver during the short-term follow-up. Trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov identifier number: NCT02046980.