Vertigo, dizziness, and unsteadiness (VDU) are common symptoms traditionally considered to result from different kinds of vestibular and non-vestibular dysfunctions. The epidemiology of each symptom and how they relate to each other and to migraine, agoraphobia, motion sickness susceptibility (MSS), vaso-vagal episodes (VVE), and anxiety-depression was the object of this population-based study in north-eastern France. A self-administered questionnaire was returned by 2987 adults (age span 18–86 years, 1471 women). The 1-year prevalence for vertigo was 48.3%, for unsteadiness 39.1%, and for dizziness 35.6%. The three symptoms were correlated with each other, occurred mostly (69.4%) in various combinations rather than in isolation, less than once per month, and 90% of episodes lasted ≤2 min. The three symptoms were similar in terms of female predominance, temporary profile of the episodes, and their link to falls and nausea. Symptom episodes of >1 h increase the risk of falls. VDU are much more common than the known prevalence of vestibular disorders. The number of drugs taken increase VDU even when controlling for age. Each VDU symptom was correlated with each co-morbidity in Chi-squared tests. The data suggest that the three symptoms are more likely to represent a spectrum resulting from a range of similar – rather than from different, unrelated – mechanisms or disorders. Logistic regressions controlling for each vestibular symptom showed that vertigo correlated with each co-morbidity but dizziness and unsteadiness did not, suggesting that vertigo is certainly not a more specific symptom than the other two. A logistic regression using a composite score of VDU, controlling for each co-morbidity showed a correlation of VDU to migraine and VVE but not to MSS and not to agoraphobia in men, only in women.

Background: Different types of benign positional vertigo (BPV) have been recognized. The variant with permanent apogeotropic direction-changing lateral nystagmus in the supine position is particularly difficult to distinguish from central etiologies. Objective: To identify clinical features of this variant of BPV, helping to establish its peripheral etiology. Methods: In five patients without any evidence of neurologic disease and with this variant of positional vertigo, the behavior of nystagmus as a function of head position in space was studied. Results: In the supine position, a null point for lateral nystagmus was identified, beyond which the nystagmus changed direction. This null point was evident when the head was turned 10 to 20° to the side. In this position, the ipsilateral cupula of the lateral semicircular canal is aligned with the gravity vector. In two of the five patients, a null point was identified in pitch, beyond which the nystagmus reversed direction. This null point corresponds to the head position where the lateral canals are in an earth horizontal plane. Conclusion: From the behavior of lateral nystagmus in different head positions, the lateral canal system of the inner ear is shown to be gravity-sensitive and the side on which the cupula is affected can be determined.

Vestibular migraine is considered to be the second most common cause of vertigo and the most common cause of spontaneous episodic vertigo. The duration of attacks varies from seconds to days, usually lasting minutes to hours, and they mostly occur independently of headaches. Long-lasting individual attacks are treated with generic antivertiginous and antiemetic drugs. Specific antimigraine drugs are unlikely to be very effective for rescue. The mainstay of the management of vestibular migraine is prophylactic medication. To date, there are no controlled trials available; the body of knowledge builds on case series and retrospective or observational studies. Most drugs are also used for the prevention of migraine headaches. The choice of medication should be guided by its side effect profile and the comorbidities of patients. Betablockers such as propanolol or metoprolol are preferred in patients with hypertension but in the absence of asthma. Anticonvulsants include topiramate when patients are obese, valproic acid and lamotrigine. Lamotrigine is preferred if vertigo is more frequent than headaches. Calcium antagonists include verapamil and flunarizine. If patients have anxiety, tricyclic antidepressants such as amitryptiline or nortryptiline or SSRIs and benzodiazepines such as clonazepam are recommended. Acetazolamide is effective in rare genetic disorders related to migraine-like episodic ataxia; however, its place in vestibular migraine is still to be established. Nonpharmacological measures such as diet, sleep, hygiene and avoidance of triggers are recommended as they are for migraine. Vestibular rehabilitation might be useful when there are complications such as loss of confidence in balance or visual dependence.

Headache is an underestimated burden on general health and social functioning. Accompanying symptoms of headache episodes might influence this impact. In a survey in a headache population in Luxembourg on the social and emotional impact of headaches, accompanying symptoms of headache episodes were evaluated. In 1909 participants with episodic (<15 days per month) headaches (77.1% women), visual symptoms (52.4%) and dizziness (51.1%) were frequent accompanying symptoms of headache episodes. Visual symptoms and dizziness were each independently associated with migraine in both genders and independently associated with greater headache-related disability (scored on the Migraine Disability Scale [MIDAS]), more severe depression, and higher disability as measured by the disease-independent World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS). We found that dizziness is a frequent accompanying symptom of headache, particularly in migraine. The presence of dizziness was found to have an exacerbating impact on disability and depression associated with headaches. The effect of dizziness was comparable in magnitude and independent from the presence of visual symptoms.