Vertigo/dizziness is a common complaint in patients who are seeking a primary health clinic. Vertigo is traditionally attributed to damage of the vestibular system. Many peripheral and central vestibular disorders are usually presented with vertigo. However, patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), a leading cause of vertigo, may present with postural lightheadedness, near faint, imbalance rather than true vertigo. On the contrary, patients with orthostatic hypotension may present with true spinning vertigo, not dizziness. Persistent postural perceptual dizziness, a second most common cause of dizziness (after BPPV), is mainly occurred after organic vestibular disorders such as BPPV or vestibular neuritis, and classified as a chronic functional vestibular disorder. This article describes non-vestibular disorders presenting dizziness and/or vertigos, which conditions may be misdiagnosed as structural vestibular disorders.
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo ; Diagnosis ; Dizziness ; Humans ; Hypotension, Orthostatic ; Orthostatic Intolerance ; Vertigo ; Vestibular Neuronitis ; Vestibulocochlear Nerve Diseases

Orthostasis means standing upright. Thus, orthostatic intolerance (OI) can be simply defined as “the development of symptoms during upright standing, that are relieved by recumbency.” However, OI might be a confusing topic in clinical practice because of the recent appreciation of the condition's clinical variant, emerging understanding of its diverse mechanisms, and its nomenclature, which seems to change annually. OI is not fatal but should be differentiated from potentially lethal disorders, including seizures or cardiogenic syncope. Typical signs and symptoms include loss of consciousness, lightheadedness, and visual difficulties. However, patients also experience multiple and nonspecific symptoms that seem unrelated to orthostatic intolerance, such as headache, fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain, and exercise intolerance. This review was aimed at expanding the comprehension of this confusing and easily missed topic by providing better understanding of the normal hemodynamic response to orthostasis and the basic pathophysiological concepts of major syndromes of OI.
Abdominal Pain ; Child ; Comprehension ; Diagnosis* ; Dizziness ; Fatigue ; Headache ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Hypotension, Orthostatic ; Nausea ; Orthostatic Intolerance* ; Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome ; Seizures ; Syncope ; Unconsciousness

Objective: To investigate the clinical value of coefficient of variation of heart rate and blood pressure in rapid identification of children with suspected orthostatic intolerance(OI). Methods: This was a retrospective study. The medical records of 379 children with OI were collected, who were admitted to the Department of Pediatrics of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University from January 2015 to January 2020. Another 20 out-patient children without syncope or syncope aura were selected as control. According to the results of standing test and head-up tilt test (HUTT), all the patients with OI were divided into the following 4 groups: vasovagal syncope (VVS) group, postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) group, POTS combined with VVS (POTS+VVS) group and HUTT negative group. Then, coefficient of variation of systolic pressure (SBP_CV), coefficient of variation of diastolic pressure (DBP_CV) and coefficient of variation of heart rate (HR_CV) in standing test and HUTT were calculated. Kruskal-Wallis test was used for comparison among the five groups, and Dunnett's T3 method for comparison between two groups. Paired t test was used to compare the coefficient of variation between supine and erect position and tilt position in each group. The predictive values of HR_CV,SBP_CV and DBP_CV for negative HUTT were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: Among the 379 children, there were 79 in HUTT negative group, 208 in VVS group, 52 in POTS group, and 40 in POTS+VVS group. The SBP_CV of supine-erect position of the control group, HUTT negative group, VVS group, POTS group, POTS+VVS group were (3.8±1.0)%, (5.3±2.2)%, (6.6±3.4)%, (5.9±3.6)%, (6.9±2.8)%, respectively. Similarly, the SBP_CV of supine, erect and head-up tilt position were (4.5±0.8)%, (6.0±1.9)%, (7.1±2.6)%, (6.0±2.1)%, (7.3±2.5)%; the DBP_CV of supine-erect position were (7.3±1.2)%, (9.1±3.7)%, (9.1±4.9)%, (9.1±4.8)%, (11.6±4.6)%; the DBP_CV of supine, erect and tilt position were (7.4±1.1)%, (9.4±2.9)%, (10.1±3.8)%, (9.2±3.3)%, (11.0±4.7)%; the HR_CV of supine-erect position were (7.6±2.6)%, (12.9±3.7)%, (16.2±4.3)%, (21.2±5.9)%, (24.9±5.3)%; and the HR_CV of supine, erect and tilt position were (8.1±1.6)%, (10.1±2.7)%, (14.1±4.3)%, (15.6±3.7)%, (18.9±4.0)%, respectively. All the indexes showed significant differences among the five groups (χ²=21.91, 25.47, 19.82, 14.65, 104.52, 92.51, all P<0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that when the SBP_CV and HR_CV of supine-erect position reached 4.4% and 10.5%, the area under the curve of ROC were 0.713 and 0.877, the sensitivity of predicting negative HUTT were 58.2% and 78.5%, and the specificity were 80.0% and 95.0%, respectively. Conclusions: Coefficient of variation of heart rate and blood pressure may serve as potential diagnostic indexes in evaluating autonomic function of OI patients. SBP_CV ≥ 4.4% or HR_CV ≥ 10.5% of supine-erect position could be an indication of HUTT.
Blood Pressure ; Child ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Orthostatic Intolerance/diagnosis* ; Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome/diagnosis* ; Retrospective Studies ; Syncope, Vasovagal/diagnosis* ; Tilt-Table Test

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the disease spectrums underlying orthostatic intolerance (OI) and sitting intolerance (SI) in Chinese children, and to understand the clinical empirical treatment options. METHODS: The medical records including history, physical examination, laboratory examination, and imagological examination of children were retrospectively studied in Peking University First Hospital from 2012 to 2021. All the children who met the diagnostic criteria of OI and SI were enrolled in the study. The disease spectrums underlying OI and SI and treatment options during the last 10 years were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 2 110 cases of OI and SI patients were collected in the last 10 years, including 943 males (44.69%) and 1 167 females (55.31%) aged 4－18 years, with an average of (11.34±2.84) years. The overall case number was in an increasing trend over the year. In the OI spectrum, postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) accounted for 826 cases (39.15%), followed by vasovagal syncope (VVS) (634 cases, 30.05%). The highest proportion of SI spectrum was sitting tachycardia (STS) (8 cases, 0.38%), followed by sitting hypertension (SHT) (2 cases, 0.09%). The most common comorbidity of OI and SI was POTS coexisting with STS (36 cases, 1.71%). The highest proportion of treatment options was autonomic nerve function exercise (757 cases, 35.88%), followed by oral rehydration salts (ORS) (687 cases, 32.56%), metoprolol (307 cases, 14.55%), midodrine (142 cases, 6.73%), ORS plus metoprolol (138 cases, 6.54%), and ORS plus midodrine (79 cases, 3.74%). The patients with POTS coexisting with VVS were more likely to receive pharmacological intervention than the patients with POTS and the patients with VVS (41.95% vs. 30.51% vs. 28.08%, χ²= 20.319, P < 0.01), but there was no significant difference in the proportion of treatment options between the patients with POTS and the patients with VVS. CONCLUSION POTS and VVS in children are the main underlying diseases of OI, while SI is a new disease discovered recently. The number of children with OI and SI showed an increasing trend. The main treatment methods are autonomic nerve function exercise and ORS. Children with VVS coexisting with POTS were more likely to take pharmacological treatments than those with VVS or POTS only.
Child ; Electrolytes ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Metoprolol ; Midodrine ; Orthostatic Intolerance/therapy* ; Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome/diagnosis* ; Retrospective Studies ; Salts ; Sitting Position ; Syncope, Vasovagal/diagnosis* ; Tilt-Table Test

Amyloidosis is a systemic disorder associated with clonal plasma cell dyscrasia. Nephrotic syndrome, congestive heart failure, autonomic and peripheral neuropathy is often associated features in amyloidosis. Early diagnosis is most important because of different prognosis by stage. The diagnosis can be delayed since symptoms of amyloidosis may vary or nonspecific. We describe a patient of myeloma-associated amyloidosis, who showed orthostatic intolerance as the first symptom of the disease.
Amyloidosis* ; Diagnosis ; Early Diagnosis ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Nephrotic Syndrome ; Orthostatic Intolerance* ; Paraproteinemias ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases ; Prognosis

Pediatric migraine is followed by more frequent episodes of dizziness or vertigo than tension-type headaches. Just as children with migraine show a high sensitivity to light and noise, they are also susceptible to vestibular stimuli, resulting in vertigo or dizziness. Previous studies have found vertigo to be more common among patients with migraine. Vestibular migraine and benign paroxysmal vertigo of childhood have been identified as the most common causes of vertigo in children without ear disease. Benign paroxysmal vertigo of childhood is also thought to be a precursor of later episodes of migraine. The term vestibular migraine was included as a part of the appendix in the International Classification of Headache Disorders 3rd edition beta version, as an increasing number of studies have shown a positive relationship between migraine and vertigo. However, vertigo cannot be easily identified by parents or pediatricians, as young children are unable to explain their vertigo- or migraine-related symptoms. This is also applicable to specialists such as pediatric neurologists and otolaryngologists, as they often do not know the exact definition of vertigo in such patients and cannot make the correct differential diagnosis. Consequently, the inadequate evaluation and treatment of these patients can lead to a high socioeconomic cost. This review article discussing vertigo in pediatric migraine will help more medical doctors to effectively examine, accurately diagnose, and promptly treat young children suffering from migraine or vertigo.
Appendix ; Child ; Classification ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Dizziness* ; Ear Diseases ; Headache Disorders ; Humans ; Migraine Disorders* ; Noise ; Orthostatic Intolerance* ; Parents ; Specialization ; Tension-Type Headache ; Vertigo

BACKGROUNDOrthostatic intolerance (OI) is a common disease at pediatric period which has a serious impact on physical and mental health of children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of related factors on the prognosis of children with OI.

METHODSThe subjects were 170 children with OI, including 71 males (41.8%) and 99 females (58.2%) with age from 6 to 17 (12.0±2.6) years. The effect of related factors on the prognosis of children was studied by using univariate analysis. Then, the impact of children's age, symptom score, duration, disease subtype, and treatment on patient's prognosis was studied via analysis of COX proportional conversion model.

RESULTSAmong 170 cases, 48 were diagnosed with vasovagal syncope, including 28 cases of vasoinhibitory type, 16 cases of mixed type, and 4 cases of cardioinhibitory type; 115 cases were diagnosed with postural tachycardia syndrome and 7 cases with orthostatic hypotension. By using univariate analysis of Cox regression, the results showed that symptom score had a marked impact on the time of symptoms improvement of children after taking medication (P < 0.05), while other univariates had no impact (P > 0.05). Multivariate analysis using Cox proportional hazards regression model showed that the symptom score at diagnosis had a significant effect on holding time of symptoms improvement of children after taking medication (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier curve showed that symptom-free survival was higher in children with symptom score equal to 1 than children with symptom score equal to or greater than 2 during follow-up (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSymptom score is an important factor affecting the time of symptom improvement after treatment for children with OI.

Adolescent ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Metoprolol ; therapeutic use ; Midodrine ; therapeutic use ; Orthostatic Intolerance ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; mortality ; pathology ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Retrospective Studies ; Saline Waters ; therapeutic use ; Syncope, Vasovagal ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; mortality ; pathology