Abstract
We examined 256 patients who suffered from vertigo with routine otoneurological techniques and got diagnosis from 1985 to 1987. CT-scans were often performed to confirm the diagnosis. Positional nystagmus was present in 72 patients (28.1%). The proportion of positional nystagmus was not very different among the various diseases. Direction changing nystagmus was seen in about 40% of patients with peripheral as well as central disease, although textbooks describe a higher incidence of direction-changing nystagmus with central lesions than with peripheral lesions. Among the patients with direction-changing nystagmus, upward nystagmus was seen in about 70% of those with peripheral disease and in about 80% of those with central lesions, although textbooks describe direction-changing upward nystagmus mainly in patients with central disease. Rotatory nystagmus indicated a peripheral lesion rather than a central lesion.
