Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T11:05:36.517Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Vertigo, dizziness and imbalance in the elderly

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2007

A Üneri*
Affiliation:
Balance Center, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Acıbadem Kozyatagi Oncology and Neurology Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
S Polat
Affiliation:
Balance Center, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Acıbadem Kozyatagi Oncology and Neurology Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
*
Address for correspondence: Dr A Üneri, Acıbadem Hastanesi Kozyatağı, İnönü caddesi Okur Sokak No 20, 34742 İstanbul, Turkey. Fax: +902165714000 E-mail: alevuneri@gail.com

Abstract

Objective:

The aim of this retrospective analysis was to evaluate the diagnosis of vertigo, dizziness and imbalance in elderly patients in two tertiary neurotology clinics.

Design and setting:

Six hundred and seventy-seven patients aged over 65 years were assessed by the same senior author, and 601 patients were enrolled in the study.

Results:

The most frequent diagnoses were benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (42.43 per cent), idiopathic vestibulopathy (20.29 per cent), migraine vestibulopathy (13.15 per cent), Ménière's disease (12.47 per cent) and acute vestibular attack (6.49 per cent).

Conclusion and significance:

This retrospective study showed that 93.5 per cent of the elderly patients studied had been diagnosed with peripheral vertigo. The majority of patients had been classified as having benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, idiopathic vestibulopathy or migraine vestibulopathy.

Type
Main Article
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Baloh, RW. Vertigo in older people. Curr Treat Options Neurol 2000;2:81–9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2 Lee, H, Yi, HA, Lee, SR, Ahn, BH, Park, BR. Drop attacks in elderly patients secondary to otologic causes with Meniere's syndrome or non-Meniere peripheral vestibulopathy. J Neurol Sci 2005;232:71–6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3 Boult, C, Murphy, J, Sloane, P, Mor, V, Drone, C. The relation of dizziness to functional decline. J Am Geriatr Soc 1991;39:858–61CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4 Konrad, HR, Girardi, M, Helfert, R. Balance and aging. Laryngoscope 1999;109:1454–60CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5 Salvinelli, F, Trivelli, M, Casale, M, Firrisi, L, Di Peco, V, D'Ascanio, L et al. Treatment of benign positional vertigo in the elderly: a randomized trial. Laryngoscope 2004;114:827–31CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6 Committee on Hearing and Equilibrium. Committee on Hearing and Equilibrium guidelines for the diagnosis and evaluation of the therapy in Meniere's disease. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1995;113:181–5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7 Oghalai, JS, Manolidis, S, Barth, JL, Steward, MG, Jenkins, HA. Unrecognized benign paroxysmal positional vertigo in elderly patients. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2000;122:630–4CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8 Sakaida, M, Takeuchi, K, Ishinaga, H, Adachi, M, Majima, Y. Long-term outcome of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Neurology 2003;60:1532–4CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9 Lea, P, Kushnir, M, Shpirer, Y, Zomer, Y, Flechter, S. Approach to benign paroxysmal positional vertigo in old age. Isr Med Assoc J 2005;7:447–50Google ScholarPubMed
10 Liveing, E. On Megrim, Sick Headache and Some Allied Health Disorders: A Contribution to the Pathology of Nerve Storms. London: Churchill 1873;120–30Google Scholar
11 Bramwell, E, McMullen, WH. Discussion on migraine. BMJ 1926;2:765–75Google Scholar
12 Neuhauser, H, Leopold, M, von Brevern, M, Arnold, G, Lempert, T. The interrelations of migraine, vertigo, and migrainous vertigo. Neurology 2001;56:436–41CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13 Uneri, A. Migraine and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: an outcome study of 476 patients. Ear Nose Throat J 2004;83:814–15CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14 Cass, SP, Furman, JM, Ankerstjerne, K, Balaban, C, Yetiser, S, Aydogan, B. Migraine-related vestibulopathy. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1997;106:182–9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15 Lempert, T, Neuhauser, H. Migrainous vertigo. Neurol Clin 2005;23:715–30CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16 Crevits, L, Bosman, T. Migraine-related vertigo: towards a distinctive entity. Clin Neurol Neurosurg 2005;107:82–7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17 Baloh, RW, Jacobson, K, Winder, T. Drop attacks with Meniere's syndrome. Ann Neurol 1990;28:384–7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18 Stahle, J, Stahle, C, Arenberg, IK. Incidence of Meniere's disease. Arch Otolaryngol 1978;104:99102CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19 Ballester, M, Liard, P, Vibert, D, Hausler, R. Meniere's disease in the elderly. Otol Neurotol 2002;23:73–8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed