Abstract WP249: The “Bucket Test” may Improve Detection of Stroke in Patients With Acute Dizziness

The diagnosis of a stroke in the emergency department (ED) can be difficult when a patient presents primarily with dizziness. Approximately 1/3 of such patients are misdiagnosed with a benign ear condition. While MRI may detect a stroke in such patients, it may not be readily available in many ED. Therefore, there is a need to improve clinical recognition of strokes among acutely dizzy patients. The “bucket test” (BT) involves the use of a bucket that has inside of it a series of images arranged in a straight line that can be aligned with earth’s vertical. In research lab settings, more than 90% of patients with posterior circulation strokes misalign the images off the vertical. However, the utility of a portable version of BT in diagnosing stroke among dizzy patients in ED setting has not been evaluated. We hypothesized that BT can be used by ED physicians as a screening tool for stroke in dizzy patients. We tested a portable version of BT on dizzy patients in ED of a tertiary center. We prospectively en...