Following the 15th APO Winter Meeting, which took place in Monte Real on 4 March 2023 and at which the topic “Vertigo in Childhood” was discussed, we would like to draw attention here to the 2020 article “Vestibular migraine and recurrent vertigo of childhood: Diagnostic criteria consensus document of the Classification Committee of Vestibular Disorders of the Bárány Society and the International Headache Society”, published in the Journal of Vestibular Research.
https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-vestibular-research/ves200003
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9249292/
This document sets out the diagnostic criteria for three clinical conditions presenting with vertigo in children: (1) paediatric vestibular migraine; (2) probable paediatric vestibular migraine; and (3) recurrent vertigo in children.
1) The criteria for childhood vestibular migraine overlap with those for adult vestibular migraine and include: (A) At least 5 episodes with vestibular symptoms
of moderate or severe intensity, lasting between 5 minutes and 72 hours; (B) Current or past history of migraine with or without aura; (C) At least half of the episodes are associated with at least one of the three characteristic features of migraine: (1) Headache (unilateral, throbbing, of moderate to severe intensity, or aggravated by physical activity), (2) Photophobia or phonophobia, (3) Visual aura; (D) Age under 18 years; and (E) Not better explained by another condition.
2) The criteria for probable childhood vestibular migraine include at least three episodes similar to those described for childhood vestibular migraine, lasting between 5 minutes and 72 hours, and meeting only criterion (B) or (C).
3) The new term “Recurrent childhood vertigo” replaces the former ‘Benign paroxysmal vertigo of childhood’ and is diagnosed on the basis of the following criteria: (A) At least 3 episodes with moderate or severe vestibular symptoms, lasting between 1 minute and 72 hours; (B) None of the criteria B and C for ‘Vestibular Migraine in Childhood’; (C) Age under 18 years; and (D) Not better explained by another condition.
The Bárány Society has been expanding its consensus documents in order to facilitate diagnosis and standardise the terminology used by doctors specialising in otoneurology.
Text: Dr Pedro Cavilhas.
