| Abstrakt: |
Background: Vestibular disorders are common among the pediatric population, but these cases often go undiagnosed due to a lack of vestibular assessment. Accurate diagnosis can be achieved through a thorough combined assessment of vestibular and neurological functions. Aim: The present work aims to 1) evaluate the vestibular findings and 2) detect the complementary role of vestibular to neurological assessment in dizzy children. Methods: This observational, case-control study involved 40 children: 20 healthy children and 20 children experiencing dizziness. All participants underwent full history taking, otological examination, basic audiological evaluation, neurological evaluation (clinical neurological examination, magnetic resonance imaging [MRI], and electroencephalography [EEG]), vestibular assessment (office tests and VNG), and the pediatric dizziness questionnaire. Results: Clinical neurological assessment of dizzy children revealed normal findings. However, EEG exhibited two patients with epilepsy, while MRI displayed positive findings in one case. However, vestibular assessment revealed impaired vestibular functions in the study group. Using the VNG, showed higher latency and lower velocity of saccadic test in both directions in the study group compared to the control group. Additionally, the pediatric dizziness questionnaire showed a mean vestibular category score of 4.1 ± 2.51 and a mean neurological category score of 3.2 ± 2.19. The questionnaire revealed that 45% of cases had vestibular disorders, 35% had neurologic disorders, and 20% had a combination of both. Conclusion: Neurological examinations alone may fail to diagnose dizziness in children. Despite the low prevalence of cases diagnosed with MRI and EEG, these investigations remain important for uncovering obscure conditions that were not revealed during clinical examinations and require urgent intervention. Additionally, vestibular assessment in dizzy children is a useful tool for diagnosing vestibular lesions. The pediatric dizziness questionnaire also complements the findings of vestibular and neurological assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
