MANILA, Philippines – Patients with vertigo — characterized by a sensation of spinning or whirling that occurs as a result of a disturbance in balance or equilibrium — can now go to the Ear Unit of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) to avail themselves of its newly installed state-of-the-art Video Head Impulse Test (VHIT) machine, the first of its kind in the country.
The VHIT machine was donated by Abbott Products (Philippines) Inc. (formerly Solvay Pharma Philippines), which has forged a partnership with the Philippine National Ear Institute (PNEI) and the Otorhinolaryngology (ORL) Department of the UP-PGH.
Samuel Poux-Guillaume, Abbott Products (Philippines) president and CEO, said they share the vision of the PNEI and PGH’s ORL department and would like to maintain a long-term partnership with them.
“We are very pleased to be able to contribute in a small way toward achieving the goal and vision of these institutions that are bringing the best care to the people of the Philippines,” said Poux-Guillaume during the turnover ceremonies at the hospital’s Ear Unit recently.
PNEI director Dr. Generoso Abes and deputy director Dr. Charlotte Chiong, UP Manila vice chancellor for research Dr. Lulu Bravo, and UP Manila National Institutes of Health deputy director Dr. Vicente Belizario Jr. all welcomed the donation as an excellent addition to the equipment and devices for hearing and dizziness diagnostic work-up they already have in the unit.
The VHIT is an innovative technique that will help in the objective assessment of patients with vertigo and balance disorders.
Easy and straightforward to carry out, the test can be administered in a few minutes and results are readily available to validate findings from a doctor’s physical examination.
It provides valuable information on the functioning of the semi-circular canals, structures in the inner ear responsible for maintaining balance and equilibrium.