Dix-Hallpike test /hôl′pīk/ [M. R. Dix, 20th-century otholaryngolist and C. S. Hallpike, English otologist, 1900–1979] , a method for evaluating the function of the vestibule of the ear in patients with vertigo or hearing loss. The patient’s position is quickly changed from sitting to lying down with the neck hyperextended, and then returned to sitting or rotated 45 degrees to one side and then the other. Nystagmus can then be evaluated, and specific disorders of the vestibule may be diagnosed. See also caloric test, electronystagmography, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, nystagmus.
