Vertigo in a neurologist's practice

Summary

Vertigo is a term loosely used both by doctors and patients and it is often time consuming but of great diagnostic importance to separate vertigo from mere unsteadiness which may result from diseases of many parts of the nervous system. Disentangling of the various systems which may be involved in vertigo usually requires the combined efforts of the neurologist as well as the otologist before a diagnosis is made and confirmed. The largest number of patients with vertigo is the group in which there is a transitory disturbance of function of the vestibular system, as for example in those with migraine, motion sickness or simple fainting. These patients, however, are commonly misdiagnosed or not at all. Inpatients in whom there is an organic cause of vertigo, diagnosis may often be complicated by the absence or lack of obvious physical signs. Some of the principles and problems of differential diagnosis in such patients are discussed.

Key Words::

• Vertigo
• diagnosis, differential
• neurologic manifestations