Brodsky JR, et al. - This study was conducted to characterize the clinical features and outcomes of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) in the pediatric population. Experts noted that in the pediatric population, BPPV was a relatively common cause of dizziness. Repositioning maneuvers could be used successfully to treat the children and adolescents with BPPV but they could be at risk for treatment resistance and recurrence. In pediatric patients, delays in identification and treatment could be reduced by the increased awareness of BPPV.

Methods

• Researchers conducted a retrospective case review in a tertiary care center.
• They included 110 patients, aged 5 to 19 years old, diagnosed with BPPV.
• Herein, the patient demographics, comorbidities, canal involvement, response to treatment, and incidence of recurrence were studied.

Results

• As per the results, BPPV was diagnosed in 19.8% of patients seen for dizziness during the study period.
• The age of the patients ranged from 5 to 19 years old (mean =13.4 ± 3.4 yr).
• Authors noted the female:male ratio to be 3:2.
• Concussion (n = 42, 38.2%) and migraine disorders (n = 33, 30.0%) were the most prevalent comorbidities.
• Findings suggested the average time to diagnosis from symptom onset to be 178.2 ± 190.8 days.
• Most frequently affected site was the posterior canal (n = 80, 72.7%), followed by the lateral canal (n = 37, 33.6%) and superior canal (n = 21, 19.1%), and 36.4% (n = 40) of subjects had multiple canals affected.
• In 11.8% (n = 13) of cases, treatment requiring more than or equal to 5 maneuvers to achieve resolution was observed.
• In 18.2% of the cases recurrence was observed.
• As demonstrated by the logistic regression analysis, patients with vestibular migraine or benign paroxysmal vertigo of childhood had 5 times higher possibility of recurrence of BPPV, p=0.003, 95% [1.735, 15.342], vs those who did not have either.