Clinical and functional characteristics of patients with chronic dizziness

Abstract

   Objective. To form a clinical and functional characterization of patients with chronic dizziness.   Materials and methods. A single one-stage cohort study of 32 patients with chronic dizziness (CD), among them 26 women and 6 men, mean age - 49 [36.5; 51.5] years, was conducted. Patients were examined by objective neurologic examination, laboratory (general and biochemical blood tests) and instrumental (radiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound) methods were used during the study. Barany’s test was also performed, and neuropsychological testing was performed. The data were processed using descriptive statistical methods of the application package “Statistica”, 10.0.   Results. During the examination, patients complained of dizziness (100 %) and shakiness when walking (84 %), provoked mainly by intermittent visual stimuli (31 % each). Subjective neurological deficit in patients with CD was caused by kinesthetic sensations of instability (34 %), accompanied by decreased attention and memory (28 %). Objectively, the phase of optokinetic nystagmus in Barany’s test lengthened in the studied group - 190 [170; 225] s and the time of balance retention in Romberg’s pose decreased - 3 [2; 5] s. CD patients were characterized by high personality anxiety - 53 [44; 53] points and autonomic imbalance according to the questionnaire of A.M. Vein - 42 [40; 44] points. We did not reveal a connection of CD with structural anomalies, pathology of brachiocephalic vessels.   Conclusion. The clinical and functional status of CD patients was characterized by the absence of focal lesions of the nervous system and a small number of concomitant diseases causing vertigo. At the same time, the patients’ subjective sensations underlying the perception of non-existent stimuli led to impaired maintenance of vertical body position and, in turn, formed an anxiety disorder.