How Common Is Stroke Among Emergency Department Patients with Dizziness?

A biased study exaggerates the risk, but provides a useful reminder of a rare diagnosis that shouldn't be missed.

Vertigo may be caused by problems with the vestibular canal or the 8th cranial nerve, cerebellar stroke, or tumor. In a retrospective chart review, investigators evaluated the incidence of cerebellar stroke in patients who presented to a single urban academic ED with isolated dizziness and underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) within 48 hours based on the treating clinician's suspicion.

Of 136 patients, 5 (3.7%) were found to have cerebellar stroke on MRI.

Reviewing Author

Daniel J. Pallin, MD, MPH

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education

Grant/Research SupportAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality; CDC; NIH–National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; NIH–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); NIH–NIAID–Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group; Merck; Pfizer; Boehringer-Ingelheim; Shire; Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Novartis; bioMérieux; Siemens; Rapid Pathogen Screening; Magnolia; Stago; Innovative Biosensors; Molecular Detection, Inc.; Dyax Corp.; Trius Pharmaceuticals

Daniel J. Pallin, MD, MPH

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education

How Common Is Stroke Among Emergency Department Patients with Dizziness?

Topics

Reviewing Author