Causes Of Dizziness In Patients Research Articles

Clinical and Instrumental Diagnostics in Patients With Acute Dizziness

INTRODUCTION Acute dizziness (AD) can be a manifestation of a large number of diseases, including both benign pathology and life-threatening conditions, particularly stroke. In his diagnostic search, the doctor can adhere to two tactics: the exclusion of peripheral vestibulopathies (the most common cause of AD), and the identification of symptoms of damage to the central nervous system. AIM OF STUDY Comparison of instrumental research methods data with the clinical picture in patients with AD. MATERIAl AND METHODS We examined 160 patients admitted to N.V. Sklifosovsky with the only or leading complaint of dizziness. In all patients neurological status was assessed, Dix–Hallpike (DH) and Pagnini–McClure (PMC) positional maneuvers, Halmagyi–Curthoys (HC) test, duplex scan of brachiocephalic arteries, transthoracic echocardiography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging were performed. brain. In patients with suspected cardiogenic cause of dizziness, the diagnostic search included 24-hour Holter ECG monitoring. RESUlTS The frequency of some symptoms differed in patients with acute cerebrovascular accidents (ACVA) and other diseases. In patients with stroke such symptom, as postural instability was statistically more frequently detected than in patients with other causes of dizziness (44% vs. 6%, p<0.05). The sensitivity and specificity of this symptom in patients with stroke was 44% and 94%, respectively. Horizontal nystagmus, changing direction depending on the gaze setting, was detected in 5 patients with ACVA (31%) and was not observed in patients with other diseases. The sensitivity of the symptom was 31% and the specificity was 100%. Positional maneuvers of DH and PMC were positive only in patients with be-nign paroxysmal positional vertigo. CONClUSION The main symptoms that make it possible to suspect a stroke in patients with acute dizziness are postural instability and horizontal nystagmus, which changes direction. The sensi-tivity and specificity of severe postural instability were 44% and 94%, and 31% and 100% for nystagmus reversing direction. Positive Dix–Hallpike and Pagnini–McClure positional maneuvers can rule out stroke and establish the diagnosis of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo in patients with acute dizziness. The Halmagyi–Curthoys test can be positive both in peripheral vestibulopathies (vestibular neuronitis, Meniere’s syndrome, labyrinthitis), and in stroke in the basin of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery and cannot be used to confirm peripheral vestibulopathy. Holter daily monitoring of electrocardiography reveals cardiac conduction abnormalities as a cause of dizziness in patients with episodes of non-systemic dizziness.

Diagnostic Accuracy of the HINTS Exam in an Emergency Department: A Retrospective Chart Review.

The HINTS exam is a series of bedside ocular motor tests designed to distinguish between central and peripheral causes of dizziness in patients with continuous dizziness, nystagmus, and gait unsteadiness. Previous studies, where the HINTS exam was performed by trained specialists, have shown excellent diagnostic accuracy. Our objective was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the HINTS exam as performed by emergency physicians on patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with a primary complaint of vertigo or dizziness. A retrospective cohort study was performed using data from patients who presented to a tertiary care ED between September 2014 and March 2018 with a primary complaint of vertigo or dizziness. Patient characteristics of those who received the HINTS exam were assessed along with sensitivity and specificity of the test to rule out a central cause of stroke. A total of 2,309 patients met criteria for inclusion in the study. Physician uptake of the HINTS exam was high, with 450 (19.5%) dizzy patients receiving all or part of the HINTS. A large majority of patients (96.9%) did not meet criteria for receiving the test as described in validation studies; most often this was because patients lacked documentation of nystagmus or described their symptoms as intermittent. In addition, many patients received both HINTS and Dix-Hallpike exams, which are intended for use in mutually exclusive patient populations. In no case was dizziness due to a central cause identified using the HINTS exam. Our results suggest that despite widespread use of the HINTS exam in our ED, its diagnostic value in that setting was limited. The test was frequently used in patients who did not meet criteria to receive the HINTS exam (i.e., continuous vertigo, nystagmus, and unsteady gait). Additional training of emergency physicians may be required to improve test sensitivity and specificity.

Hypertension and Dizziness: is there a Relation?

One of the most frequent complaints of patients with hypertension (HT) is dizziness. Dizziness is understood as a variety of subjective sensations that patients define as “dizziness” – a sense of instability when walking, the illusion of rotation of surrounding objects, the feeling of approaching fainting, the inability to concentrate, and “fog” in the head. Experts share the systemic dizziness (vertigo) and non-systemic. The causes of vertigo in most cases are diseases of the inner ear (Meniere's disease, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo [BPPV], vestibular neuronitis. The most common form of dizziness is psychogenic dizziness. In the vast majority of cases, HT is not the cause of dizziness. The most common cause of vestibular (systemic) dizziness in patients with HT, as in the general population, is BPPV, and the most common cause of non-systemic dizziness is psychogenic dizziness. Among other causes of dizziness in patients with HT should be kept in mind too fast and/or intensive lowering of blood pressure, rhythm and conduction disorders, orthostatic hypotension (especially in elderly and senile patients in the presence of concomitant diabetes).

Сauses of Dizziness in Patients with Suspected Stroke

Background Acute dizziness may be the only symptom of stroke. Prevalence of this disease among patients with isolated dizziness differs significantly and depends on study design, inclusion criteria and diagnostic methods. In available investigations, we did not find any prospective studies where magnetic resonance imaging, positional maneuvers, and Halmagyi-Curthoys test had been used to clarify a pattern of diseases with isolated acute dizziness and suspected stroke.Aim of study To clarify the pattern of the causes of dizziness in patients with suspected acute stroke.Material and methods We examined 160 patients admitted to N.V. Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine with suspected stroke and single or underlying complaint of dizziness. All patients were examined with assessment of neurological status, Dix-Hollpike and Pagnini-McClure maneuvers, HalmagyiCurthoys test, triplex scans of brachiocephalic arteries, transthoracic echocardiography, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain with magnetic field strength 1.5 T. MRI of the brain was performed in patients without evidence of stroke by CT and in patients with stroke of undetermined etiology according to the TOAST classification.Results In 16 patients (10%), the cause of dizziness was a disease of the brain: ischemic stroke (n=14 (88%)), hemorrhage (n=1 (6%)), transient ischemic attack (TIA) of posterior circulation (n=1 (6%)). In 70.6% patients (n=113), the dizziness was associated with peripheral vestibulopathy: benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (n=85 (75%)), vestibular neuritis (n=19 (17%)), Meniere’s disease (n=7 (6%)), labyrinthitis (n=2 (1,3%)). In 6.9% patients (n=11), the cause of dizziness was hypertensive encephalopathy, 1.9% of patients (n=3) had heart rhythm disturbance, 9.4% of patients (n=15) had psychogenic dizziness, 0.6% of patients (n=1) had demyelinating disease, and 0.6% of patients (n=1) had hemic hypoxia associated with iron deficiency anemia.Conclusion In 70.6% patients with acute dizziness, admitted to hospital with a suspected stroke, peripheral vestibulopathy was revealed. Only 10% of patients had a stroke as a cause of dizziness.

めまいの発症機序を考える 不安障害／抑うつの関与

Based on our recent papers (Horii A et al. Otol Neurotol 2004, Horii A et al., J Vestibular Res 2007), we discussed the psychiatric involvement in patients with vertigo and dizziness. Seventy percent of patients with chronic dizziness showed a high score in the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), suggesting that many dizzy patients have comorbid psychiatric disorders. Fluvoxamine, one of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), administered at a dose of 200mg per day was effective for subjective handicaps due to dizziness in patients with or without neuro-otologic illnesses, owing to its actions on both the comorbid anxiety and depressive disorder. More aggressive psychiatric treatment, such as administration of higher doses, may be the next step of treatment for non-responders without neuro-otologic diseases, because these patients have been shown to suffer from more severe psychiatric illnesses. In contrast, other types of drugs that are known to help recovery of the vestibular function are recommended for neuro-otologic diseases in patients without clinically significant anxiety or depression and non-responders to fluvoxamine. The main causes of dizziness in patients without physical neuro-otologic findings were psychiatric disorders. Bidirectional relationships between vertigo/dizziness and psychiatric disorders could be explained by the anatomical connections between the brainstem and limbic system, including the amygdala.

Effects of fluvoxamine on anxiety, depression, and subjective handicaps of chronic dizziness patients with or without neuro-otologic diseases

A prospective, open-label clinical trial was conducted for two aims: first, to evaluate the role of fluvoxamine, one of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, in the treatment of dizziness for the first time and to investigate its effective mechanisms. Second, to test the hypothesis that dizziness in patients without abnormal neuro-otologic findings would be induced by psychiatric disorders rather than by unnoticed neuro-otologic diseases. Nineteen patients with neuro-otologic diseases (Group I) and 22 patients in whom standard vestibular tests revealed no abnormal findings (Group II) were treated by fluvoxamine (200 mg/day) for eight weeks. Subjective handicaps due to dizziness using a questionnaire, anxiety and depressive symptoms measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and stress hormones (vasopressin and cortisol) were examined before and 8 weeks after treatment. Overall, fluvoxamine decreased subjective handicaps of both Groups I and II. Fluvoxamine decreased HADS of only patients whose subjective handicaps were reduced (=responders) in both groups, suggesting that fluvoxamine was effective for dizziness via psychiatric action rather than a recovery of vestibular function through serotonergic activation. In non-responders of Group II, pre-treatment HADS was higher than in Group I non-responders and it was not decreased by the treatment, suggesting that dizziness of Group II non-responders was due to severe psychiatric disorders rather than unnoticed neuro-otologic diseases. Anxiety and depression components of HADS showed a good correlation at both pre- and post-treatment periods. No post-therapeutic decrease was observed in either vasopressin or cortisol even in responders, suggesting that dizziness was not the sole cause of stress in chronic dizziness patients. In conclusion, patients with or without physical neuro-otologic deficits who report chronic dizziness accompanied by anxiety and depression (as measured by HADS) showed improvements across a full range of subjective handicaps and psychological distress, while patients with physical neuro-otologic defects and minimal anxiety or depression did not benefit. The main causes of dizziness in patients without physical neuro-otologic findings were psychiatric disorders.