Acute vestibular syndrome: a critical review and diagnostic algorithm concerning the clinical differentiation of peripheral versus central aetiologies in the emergency department

Abstract

Almost 20 % of cerebral ischaemic strokes occur in the posterior circulation. Estimates are that 20 % of these patients present with isolated vertigo. In approximately one-sixth to one-third of these patients, this symptom is wrongly diagnosed to be peripheral vestibular in origin. As a result, these missed stroke patients are withheld from therapeutic and secondary prophylactic treatment, which may result in unnecessary morbidity and mortality. We therefore propose a diagnostic algorithm concerning the clinical differentiation of acute vestibular syndrome (AVS) patients based on a critical review of the available literature.