Causes of Vertigo in Saudi Patients Seen at Tertiary Teaching Hospital

ObjectivesTo investigate the clinical characteristics of vertigo in Saudi patients seen in otology and neurotology clinic.MethodsA retrospective chart review was performed of all patients presented with vertigo from January 2008-December 2010 at otology/neurotology clinic at King Abdulaziz University Hospital Riyadh. The data reviewed was age, sex, characteristic of vertigo symptoms, duration of vertigo, provisional diagnosis and categories of vertigo. Patients with incomplete files were excluded. The data were analyzed using Microsoft excel.ResultsA total of 124 patients; 90(%72.6) women and 34(%27.4) men were incorporated in this study. Majority of the patients suffered from benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (39.5%) followed by Meniere's disease (27.4%) and Migraine associated vertigo (8.1%). Peripheral causes were found in 73.4% of our cases while central etiology was seen only in 15.3% and 9.7% of unknown etiology.ConclusionPeripheral vestibular disorders remain the main diagnostic category in our study group, the two most common etiologies were benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and Meniere's disease. Information obtained from this study may serve as a reference guideline for otolaryngologists in Saudi Arabia when dealing with dizzy patients.