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

Abstract

Objective : Balance disorders in patients during pediatric ages are a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for pediatricians and otorhinolaryngologists due to the difficulty of symptom description. In Latin America, there are few studies on the epidemiological profile of pediatric patients with balance disorders. The aim of this study is to describe the trends in vestibular pathology in pediatric patients seen over the last three years at Hospital Britanico de Buenos Aires. Methodology: Observational, descriptive, retrospective study. We reviewed the medical history of patients under 16 who sought medical attention due to balance disorders from 2013 to 2016. Results: Study participants had a mean age of 9.07, of whom more patients were female. The main symptoms were vertigo and dizziness in girls and dizziness in boys. The main diagnosis for both girls and boys was vestibular migraine. For patients (both boys and girls) whose main symptom was vertigo, final diagnosis was infant paroxysmal positional vertigo and vestibular migraine. Conclusions: In the population studied, the symptom most commonly leading to seeking medical attention was vertigo. More girls sought medical attention than boys, and the mean age of the total population studied was 9.07. The most frequent diagnosis, both in girls and boys, was vestibular migraine.