Abstract
Introduction:Disturbance to the function of vestibular apparatus or sensory processing of its signals presents as vertigo or dizziness. Vertigo/dizziness are common symptoms that can cause significant morbidity to patients. There is no data on underlying causes for dizziness and vertigo available in Sri Lanka. Objective: To determine the underlying causes of vertigo/dizziness in a cohort of Sri Lankan population. Method: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among patients presenting with vertigo/dizziness to ENT clinic at teaching hospital Anuradhapura from March 2016 to February 2017. All patients were assessed and diagnosed according to a common protocol and accepted standard guidelines. Results: Out of 627 patients, 290(46.3%) were males. Mean age of presentation was 51.1 years (SD 15.8). Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) was the commonest diagnosis (n229, 36.5%) followed by vestibular migraine (n161, 25.7%) andMénière disease (n50, 8.0%). BPPV was significantly higher among males (Chi-square 4.3, p .039) and vestibular migraine was significantly higher among females (Chi square 8.254, p .004). Acute vestibular neuronitis, acute labyrinthine failure, chronic vestibular failure and functional dizziness were diagnosed in 4.6%, 4.1%, 2.4% and 3% respectively. Conclusion: The major underlying cause of dizziness/vertigo reported in this rural Sri Lankan population are similar to the data reported in other countries.
Highlights
Disturbance to the function of vestibular apparatus or sensory processing of its signals presents as vertigo or dizziness
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) was significantly higher among males (Chi-square 4.3, p .039) and vestibular migraine was significantly higher among females (Chi square 8.254, p .004)
In keeping with previously published literature, we have observed that the commonest underlying cause for vertigo in Sri Lankan settings was BPPV, which is the commonest cause of vertigo accounting for approximating 20-30% of diagnoses in specialized dizziness clinics[6]
Summary
Disturbance to the function of vestibular apparatus or sensory processing of its signals presents as vertigo or dizziness. Vertigo/dizziness are common symptoms that can cause significant morbidity to patients. There is no data on underlying causes for dizziness and vertigo available in Sri Lanka. Vertigo is specially characterized by sensation of whirling motion either of oneself or of external objects. A study done in Germany has revealed lifetime adult prevalence of vestibular vertigo of 7.4%2. Many scientific studies have shown vestibular disorders to have significant impact on activities of daily living, social functioning, mood and cognitive status of individuals and increase risk of clinically significant outcomes such as fall 3,4,5
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