The purpose of this study was to verify the benefits of the vestibular rehabilitation (VR) with virtual reality through the assessment before and after the application of the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) in four cases of spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA). The cases were underwent the following procedures: anamnesis, ear inspection, vestibular assessment and application of the BBS before and after VR with virtual reality using games from Wii Fit device. The cases describe four patients that were diagnosed with genetically inherited SCA (two type 2, one type 3 and one still under investigation), three of them were female and one was male, with ages ranging from 30 to 62 years. The patients presented otoneurological symptoms and the vestibular test showed the presence of semi-spontaneous nystagmus, absence of post-rotational nystagmus, hyporeflexia, and asymmetric directional preponderance of the nystagmus in the caloric test. Patients from cases 1 and 2 have showed an improvement in motor coordination and in body balance, even though the score presented by the BBS had demonstrated medium risk for falling before and after the exercises. In case 3, the patient's loss of balance and BBS score have improved, presenting low risk of falling; whereas the patient in case 4 did not show any improvement in the assessment after the exercises. This case study shows the applicability of VR exercises with virtual stimuli in SCA with improved motor coordination and postural balance.
Spinocerebellar degenerations; Ataxia; Vestibular diseases; Electronystagmography; Rehabilitation