1/4. Isolated vestibular areflexia after blunt head trauma.The sudden unilateral loss of vestibular function is a frequent cause of vertigo. This condition is called vestibular neuronitis or vestibular neuritis. Its cause remains unknown, but many authors consider it to be a sequel of vestibular viral infection. We report the history and clinical findings of 5 patients in whom a unilateral vestibular loss occurred after head trauma. None of these patients complained of hearing loss. In all cases, the vertigo gradually subsided over days or weeks. The follow-up showed the partial recovery of vestibular function in 2 cases, while vestibular areflexia persisted in 3. The clinical course and findings were similar in every respect to those in patients with classic idiopathic vestibular neuronitis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vertigo (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/4. Labyrinthine concussion and positional vertigo after osteotome site preparation.An incident of positional vertigo associated with osteotome technique for installation of multiple maxillary dental implants is reported. The symptoms resolved after 2 weeks with restricted physical activity and prohibition of lifting. There is a discussion of labyrinthine concussion and treatments. Suggestions for prevention are to use small sizes of osteotomes first and then progress to larger sizes and to avoid neck extension head position during osteotome use.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2.5keywords = vertigo (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/4. Combined horizontal and posterior canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo in three patients with head trauma.We report 3 patients who complained of positional vertigo shortly after head trauma. Positional maneuvers performed in the plane of the posterior canal (PC; Dix-Hallpike maneuver) and the horizontal canal (HC; patients were rolled to either side in a supine position with the head raised 30 degrees) revealed a complex positional nystagmus that could only be interpreted as the result of combined PC and HC benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). Two patients had a right PC BPPV and an ageotropic HC BPPV, and 1 patient had a bilateral PC BPPV and a left geotropic HC BPPV. All 3 patients were rapidly free of vertigo after the PC BPPV was cured by the Epley maneuver and the geotropic HC BPPV was cured by the Vannucchi method. The ageotropic HC BPPV resolved spontaneously. neuroimaging (brain computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging scans) findings were normal in all 3 patients. From a physiopathological viewpoint, it is easy to conceive that head trauma could throw otoconial debris into different canals of each labyrinth and be responsible for these combined forms of BPPV. Consequently, in trauma patients with vertigo, it is mandatory to perform the Dix-Hallpike maneuver, as well as supine lateral head turns, in order to diagnose PC BPPV, HC BPPV, or the association of both. early diagnosis and treatment of BPPV may help to reduce the postconcussion syndrome.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 4keywords = vertigo (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/4. Case of intracranial vertebral artery dissection in young age.stroke in childhood is rare and has its own characteristic findings. Vertebrobasilar ischemia due to trauma in this age group has been described, but its specific features have not yet been clearly defined. Dissection of vertebral artery is one of the causes of vertebrobasilar ischemia that is very uncommonly detected in the intracranial portion of the posterior circulation in childhood. We report a 14-year-old boy with a history of neck trauma and transient vertigo attacks who presented with brainstem and cerebellar ischemic findings. Due to the large left cerebellar infarct size compressing the fourth ventricle, we performed emergent posterior fossa decompression. Digital cerebral subtraction angiography revealed left vertebral artery dissection beginning at the V1 portion to the level of V4 and distal thrombosis of basilar artery. After 2 months, he was discharged from the hospital with minor neurologic deficit with anticoagulation therapy. Due to better outcome in childhood, early investigation for intracranial dissection should be included in the evaluation of posterior circulation infarcts in this age group.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = vertigo (Clic here for more details about this article) |