Chapter 15 - Dizziness and Vertigo

Abstract

This chapter presents a study on cranial nerves and brain stem, and dizziness and vertigo. The chapter mentions that vertigo, dizziness, and disequilibrium are common complaints of patients of all ages, particularly the elderly. Vertigo is an unpleasant distortion of static gravitational orientation or an erroneous perception of motion of either the sufferer or the environment. It is not a well-defined disease entity, but rather the outcome of many pathological processes causing a mismatch between the visual, vestibular, and somatosensory systems, all of which subserve both static and dynamic spatial orientation. The clinical spectrum of vertigo is broad, which extends from vestibular rotatory vertigo with nausea and vomiting to presyncope light-headedness, from drug intoxication to hypoglycemic dizziness, from visual vertigo to phobias and panic attacks, and from motion sickness to height vertigo. Appropriate preventions and treatments differ for different types of dizziness and vertigo. The prevailing good prognosis of vertigo should be emphasized, because many forms of vertigo have a benign cause and are characterized by spontaneous recovery of vestibular function or central compensation of a peripheral or central vestibular tone imbalance; and most forms of vertigo can be effectively relieved by pharmacological treatment, physical therapy, surgery, or psychotherapy. The chapter discusses general therapeutic approaches including antivertiginous and antiemetic drugs, specific drug treatment for vestibular disorders, and surgical treatment. The chapter discusses several aspects including Meniere's disease, basilar migraine/vestibular migraine, phobic postural vertigo, and others