Neuro-Otological Findings in Patients with Migraine- and Nonmigraine-Related Dizziness

Abstract

This study presents the neuro-otological findings of 523 patients attending a tertiary vestibular clinic with migraine- and nonmigraine-related dizziness. Subjects were categorized into one of 4 groups, definite migrainous vertigo, probable migrainous vertigo, vestibular disorder coexisting with migraine and nonmigraine-related dizziness. No notable relationship was found between the numbers of abnormal findings between the groups for the majority of the neuro-otological tests. However, there was a significant trend in emetic response to caloric testing. The definite migrainous vertigo group were at least 4 times more likely to be nauseous to caloric testing than any other migraine category. This difference was independent of the magnitude of caloric responses between the emetic migraine groups. While further investigation is required, this study has potentially identified that nauseous/emetic response to caloric stimulation may be a distinguishing factor between migrainous vertigo and other vestibular disorders including those with a coexisting history of migraine.