Res Vestib Sci.
2011 Sep;10(3):88-91.
Clinical Characteristics of Pediatric Dizziness
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Inha University College of Medicine, Incheon, Korea. stedman@inha.ac.kr
Abstract
- BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Pediatric dizziness is difficult to diagnose because of the nonspecific nature of symptom, and difficulty in history taking, physical examination or diagnostic tests. The authors tried to analyze the proportion of diseases in children suffering from dizziness, and introduce cases with atypical clinical characteristics and uncommon diagnosis.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The medical records of 53 pediatric patients suffering from dizziness were analyzed retrospectively. We analyzed the findings of history taking, physical examination for nystagmus and cerebellar function, pure tone audiogram and caloric tests in all patients.
RESULTS
Diagnosis of migrainous vertigo was most common (32.7%), followed by psychological cause (11.5%) and labyrinthitis due to the otitis media (7.7%). Cases of cerebellar hemangioblastoma, neurofibromatosis and drug intoxication were also found.
CONCLUSION
The clinical characteristics and causative diseases of pediatric dizziness are different from those of adults. Appropriate history taking and diagnostic tests are improtant for differential diagnosis.
