Central Vertigo Workup

  • Author: Keith A Marill, MD; Chief Editor: Barry E Brenner, MD, PhD, FACEP   more...
 
Updated: Jan 21, 2011
 

Laboratory Studies

  • Laboratory studies may be useful for patients who do not complain strictly of vertigo.
  • Rule out anemia, pregnancy, and derangement of serum glucose, if relevant, in patients who complain of lightheadedness or disequilibrium.
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Imaging Studies

  • Imaging of the posterior fossa is necessary if the clinician suspects a central lesion.
    • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the preferred modality to detect infarction,[13] hemorrhage, tumor,[3] and the white matter lesions of multiple sclerosis.
    • If MRI is unavailable, computed tomography (CT) scan with fine cuts through the posterior fossa may be used. Unfortunately, CT scan is limited by poorer resolution than MRI and bony artifact.
    • Intra-arterial angiography is used traditionally to diagnose occlusions in the vertebrobasilar system. CT angiography (CTA), noninvasive magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), and Doppler ultrasonography are steadily supplanting it. This may be particularly important as early thrombolysis becomes more established as a therapy. CT scan of a patient with an acute spontaneous cerCT scan of a patient with an acute spontaneous cerebellar hemorrhage. The hemorrhage in the right lobe of the cerebellum is partly obscured by bony artifact. MRI of a patient with an acute cerebellar hemorrhaMRI of a patient with an acute cerebellar hemorrhage less than 24 hours after presentation. MRI allows better resolution than CT scan without bony artifact. MRI is preferred over CT scan for imaging lesions in the posterior fossa.
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Other Tests

  • Electrocardiography (ECG) is necessary to assess for atrial fibrillation, other dysrhythmias, or evidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI).
  • AMI, particularly involving the anterior wall of the left ventricle, can lead to a stiffened ventricle with poor wall movement and secondary stasis. This may serve as a cardioembolic source for cerebral thromboembolism.
  • The consulting neurologist may perform caloric testing and electronystagmography (ENG) to help localize the lesion in the vestibular apparatus or vestibular nerve nuclei; audiometry and brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAER) also may be performed.
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Proceed to Treatment & Management
 
 
Contributor Information and Disclosures
Author

Keith A Marill, MD  Faculty, Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School

Keith A Marill, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Medtronic Ownership interest None; Cambridge Heart, Inc. Ownership interest None; General Electric Ownership interest None

Specialty Editor Board

Francis Counselman, MD  Program Director, Chair, Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School

Francis Counselman, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Emergency Physicians, Association of Academic Chairs of Emergency Medicine (AACEM), Norfolk Academy of Medicine, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD  Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine

Disclosure: eMedicine Salary Employment

J Stephen Huff, MD  Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine and Neurology, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center

J Stephen Huff, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American Academy of Neurology, American College of Emergency Physicians, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

John D Halamka, MD, MS  Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Chief Information Officer, CareGroup Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School; Attending Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

John D Halamka, MD, MS is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Barry E Brenner, MD, PhD, FACEP  Professor of Emergency Medicine, Professor of Internal Medicine, Program Director, Emergency Medicine, University Hospitals, Case Medical Center

Barry E Brenner, MD, PhD, FACEP is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Emergency Physicians, American College of Physicians, American Heart Association, American Thoracic Society, Arkansas Medical Society, New York Academy of Medicine, New York Academy of Sciences, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

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CT scan of a patient with an acute spontaneous cerebellar hemorrhage. The hemorrhage in the right lobe of the cerebellum is partly obscured by bony artifact.
MRI of a patient with an acute cerebellar hemorrhage less than 24 hours after presentation. MRI allows better resolution than CT scan without bony artifact. MRI is preferred over CT scan for imaging lesions in the posterior fossa.
CT scan of a patient with a large acoustic neuroma on the right side of the brainstem. The scan was performed after injection of intravenous contrast, which is critical for identifying tumors with CT imaging.
A CT slice through the brain of a patient with an acoustic neuroma. This slice reveals a level of the brain higher than the acoustic neuroma. The dilated third and lateral ventricles provide gross evidence of obstructive hydrocephalus due to pressure exerted by the tumor on the brainstem. A ventriculostomy, seen as a white circle in the right lateral ventricle, has been placed in an attempt to drain cerebrospinal fluid and relieve the excessive pressure above the brainstem.
 
 
 
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