The sharpened Romberg test for assessing ataxia in mild acute mountain sickness

Objective.-To evaluate the Sharpened Romberg Test (SRT) as a measure of ataxia in subjects with mild acute mountain sickness in order to determine its sensitivity and specificity. Methods.-The SRT was performed in 23 subjects during ascent to 5260 In. Results.-The SRT was more often abnormal than the traditional heel-to-toe test, and at the highest altitude it was related to higher median Lake Louise symptom scores with predictive values of 60% sensitivity and 89% specificity. Our evaluation of the SRT appears to agree with similar Studies on ataxia showing a lack of correlation between ataxia and symptoms of acute mountain sickness at altitudes below 5260 m. Conclusion.-The SRT was easy to perform and provided a quantitative assessment of truncal ataxia in the field without the need for specialized equipment.