Objective: To investigate the background of hospitalized patients with vertebrobasilar insufficiency (VBI) over a 10-year period.
Methods: A retrospective study was conducted of the medical records of patients with VBI who were admitted to our hospital between January 2001 and December 2010.
Results: A total of 79 cases were hospitalized during this period. The reason for the hospital admission in all of the patients was vertigo. The study population was 38.0% male and 62.0% female. The average age of the patients was 60.6±14.8 (range 24-86) years. The age distribution showed a peak at 60 years. The proportion of patients that were 65 years or older was 45.6%. The season with the highest rate of onset was the summer (27 cases). The distribution of the onset time suggested a high incidence in the early morning. The duration of spontaneous nystagmus and of bed rest were 1.7±1.5 and 2.2±1.0 days, respectively. The prevalences of diabetes mellitus and hypertension were 34.2% and 3.8%, respectively.
Conclusion: This study revealed a tendency towards increased incidence of VBI with aging. It became clear that severe vertigo attacks that necessitated hospitalization were more likely occur in the early morning and in the summer. This study suggested that aging, summer time and hypertension are important factors predisposing to the development of VBI. It is useful to investigate the background of hospitalized patients in order to understand the pathology of VBI.
