Abstract
Forty-one patients with vertigo or dizziness who did not have obvious neurological and clinical signs were analyzed in this study. Patients with intracranial organic diseases, peripheral auditory and vestibular diseases, cardiovascular diseases, hematological diseases etc. were excluded.
The average age of these 41 cases was 44, 18 cases were male and 23 cases were female. 38 cases (88%) complained of headache, 25 cases (60%) nausea in addition to vertigo or dizziness. Leaving bed in the morning or during the night and driving a car seemed important triggers to initiate vertigo or dizziness.
Anomaly of vertebral-basilar arterial system (stenosis, elongation, kinking and fenestration of vertebral artery in 10 cases;marked, more than 50% difference of diameter in bilateral vertebral artery in 8 cases;one vertebral artery terminate to PICA without anastomosis to basilar artery in 10 cases;partial aplasia and filling defect of vertebral-basilar system in 4 cases;) was observed in 32 cases on the angiograms.
Both vertigo and dizziness come from vertebral-basilar arterial insufficiency wich was caused by blood pressure change, compression or twist of neck and artery etc. in addition to the anomaly of vertebral-basilar arterial system.
Thus, it is necessary to consider vertebral-basilar insufficiency or morphological anomaly of the vertebral-basilar arterial system in order to treat patients complaining of vertigo or dizziness without demonstrating obvious neurological and clinical signs.
