Various Vertigo Syndromes

Abstract

Dizziness occurs less often as a major symptom in childhood than in adulthood. Most forms of dizziness and vestibular syndromes of adulthood, however, can also appear in childhood. For this reason we will limit ourselves in this chapter to the essential features of an indicative patient history. Episodic vertigo syndromes can manifest in childhood as an equivalent of migraine, an epileptic aura, or in the presence of perilymph fistulas; they seldom occur in the context of a familial episodic ataxia. Sustained rotatory vertigo can be the sequela of vestibular neuritis, a labyrinthitis or brain concussion. Benign paroxysmal positioning vertigo in children is also often caused by trauma. Oscillopsia during head movements and balance disorders that worsen in darkness are typical for bilateral vestibulopathy, which can develop in children after a case of bacterial meningitis, for example, or be caused by ototoxic antibiotics. Moreover, labyrinthine malformations may also cause congenital bilateral vestibulopathy (Table 6.1). The treatment of these various forms of vertigo corresponds to that in adults; however, a paediatrician should be closely consulted.