Vertigo in Children and Adolescents: Characteristics and Outcome

Abstract

Objectives. To describe the characteristics and outcome of vertigo in a pediatric population. Patients. All children and adolescents presenting with vertigo to a tertiary otoneurology clinic between the years 2003–2010 were included in the study. Results. Thirty-seven patients with a mean age of 14 years were evaluated. The most common etiology was migraine-associated vertigo (MAV) followed by acute labyrinthitis/neuritis and psychogenic dizziness. Ten patients (27%) had pathological findings on the otoneurological examination. Abnormal findings were documented in sixteen of the twenty-three (70%) completed electronystagmography evaluations. Twenty patients (54%) were referred to treatment by other disciplines than otology/otoneurology. A follow-up questionnaire was filled by twenty six (70%) of the study participants. While all patients diagnosed with MAV had continuous symptoms, most other patients had complete resolution. Conclusions. Various etiologies of vertigo may present with similar symptoms and signs in the pediatric patient. Yet, variable clinical courses should be anticipated, depending on the specific etiology. This is the reason why treatment and follow up should be specifically tailored for each case according to the diagnosis. Close collaboration with other medical disciplines is often required to reach the correct diagnosis and treatment while avoiding unnecessary laboratory examinations.

Vertigo/dizziness in pediatric emergency department: Five years’ experience

“…Migraine was the most frequent diagnosis made in pediatric patients with VD presenting at the ED (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)18,19). Migraine in our study accounted for 30.9% of the cases, whereas the reported prevalence Table 1.…”

Vertigo in childhood: A retrospective series of 100 children

“…35 Persistence of attacks is expected: 7/9 were still having attacks at the time of the interview, as reported in other MAV series followed-up for 2e8 years. 12 In the light of our results and the literature, some clues were obtained about vertiginous children. The age of onset is important, BPVC being most common etiology in children <5 years old, and psychogenic vertigo, in those >10 years old.…”

“…14 40% of psychogenic vertigo patients had ongoing symptoms on follow-up, like in the literature. 12 MAV was the fourth most common reason of vertigo in our study. It is more common among children than adults.…”

Estudio retrospectivo: tendencia diagnóstica y perfil epidemiológico en la consulta otoneurológica en pacientes pediátricos, Hospital Británico de Buenos Aires, 2013-2016

“…En series revisadas se describe que la cefalea y la náusea son los principales motivos de consulta [11][12][13] , mientras en este trabajo se observan vértigo y mareo como eventos iniciales en el tratamiento de pacientes pediátricos con trastornos vestibulares. En nuestro trabajo no se observó náusea como motivo de consulta inicial.…”

“…En nuestro trabajo se evidenció vértigo somatomorfo, vértigo de origen psicógeno, vértigo asociado con epilepsia 4 ni laberintitis 1,12,13 , de las que se han reportado prevalencias entre el 3% a 8%, especialmente en Alemania, Dinamarca y Turquía [13][14][15] . Que este trabajo haya sido realizado en un servicio de otorrinolaringología y no en uno de emergencias podría explicar que no se encontrara laberintitis entre nuestros casos.…”