Around 55% of patients presenting with complaints of vertigo at the A&E department are discharged without an aetiological diagnosis, and in 20 to 35% of cases, the diagnosis made is incorrect.
In this prospective study, 539 patients who presented at the A&E department with complaints of vertigo were assessed. The authors assessed the use of “three tools”: history-taking and a structured clinical examination, assessment of nystagmus using video oculography (VOG), and the additional use of the video head impulse test (vHIT) in acute vestibular syndrome.
Using this method, it was possible to reach an aetiological diagnosis in 86.3% of patients, compared with 41.1% in the control group. It can therefore be concluded that the use of these tools, VOG and vHIT, doubles the rate of aetiological diagnosis in the A&E department.
Text by João Laranjeiro
