Biomedical Research

Introduction: Vertigo is a common complaint which can lead to a broad spectrum of diagnoses from benign to mortal etiologies. The diagnosis of vertigo can be challenging for Emergency Department (ED) specialists. Aim of the study is to guide clinicians in regard to the most commonly used screening techniques for differential diagnoses.

Methods: The study was conducted by evaluating the Cranial Computerized Tomography (CCT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) results of patients who were referred and admitted to an Emergency Department (ED) with complaints of vertigo. In total, 63 patients matching these criteria were included in this study. The age, sex, chief complaint, accompanying disease, physical examination findings, cranial computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging results and admission diagnosis data were recorded for each patient. The correct diagnosis ratio of cranial computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging were compared.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 65.1 ± 13.4 years. Regarding the last diagnosis of the patients, the most common was noted as cerebrovascular disease with a rate of 61.9%. The correct diagnosis rates were 31.9% and 82.5% for cranial computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging respectively. When cranial computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings were evaluated together, the rate of correct diagnosis was not statistically different from magnetic resonance imaging results (82.5%). Thus, it was found that cranial computerized tomography didn’t contribute to the results.

Conclusion: According to our findings, magnetic resonance imaging provided better results than cranial computerized tomography for evaluation of patients with vertigo. In addition, clinical detection of patients with the risk of central vertigo, following the planning of magnetic resonance imaging directly, would be useful for clinicians.

Author(s): Zeynep Karakaya, Serife Ozdinc, Fatih Esad Topal, Guler Korol, Asli Capaci, Pinar Yesim Akyol
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