Vertigo Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Vertigo, including details on causes, symptoms, treatment, dizziness.

Vertigo and imbalance in children: a retrospective study in a Helsinki University otorhinolaryngology clinic.

Riina N, Ilmari P, Kentala E

Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.

OBJECTIVE: To determine medical characteristics of children with vertigo who visited an otorhinolaryngology (ENT) clinic during a 5-year period. DESIGN: A retrospective chart review carried out between 2000 and 2004. SETTING: Helsinki University Central Hospital tertiary referral center ENT clinic. SUBJECTS: A total of 119 children (63 girls and 56 boys), ranging in age from 7 months to 17 years (mean age, 10.9 years at examination). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients were identified from the ENT clinic database based on hospital discharge codes, with data stored in the database and the SPSS program applied for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Only 0.7% of children visiting the hospital during the 5-year period had vertigo. Benign paroxysmal vertigo of childhood, migraine-associated dizziness, vestibular neuronitis, and otitis media-related dizziness accounted for vertigo in most of the children. CONCLUSIONS: Vertigo is a rare primary complaint of children in an ENT clinic. In achieving a diagnosis, the most valuable tools are medical history, an otoneurologic examination, electronystagmography, and audiography.

Published 22 November 2005 in Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, 131(11): 996-1000.
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