Etiological analysis and therapeutic strategies of vertigo in elderly patients for emergency:report of 86 cases

Objective To analyze the causes and possible mechanisms of vertigo for emergency,and to discuss the diagnosis and therapy methods.Furthermore, the possible effective preventions were suggested.Methods 86 elderly patients with vertigo for emergency were enrolled to analyze the causes through symptoms,signs and accessory examinations.Results The majority of the patients fell within the age range between 60～69 ,it occurred more frequently in female patients than in male.The main causes were cervical vertebra disease,hypertension atherosclerosis,acute cerebrovascular disease,hyperlipidemia,diabetes mellitus and autonomous nerve function disorder.ConclusionThe mechanisms which induce vertigo in elderly patients are concerned with disturbance of vertebra-basal and blood supply system.It is not only resulted from single disease,but also from several factors.Moreover,it often co-exist with multi-diseases, which shows that symptomatic treatment is still the essential method for curing vertigo in elderly patients for emergency. Key words: Vertigo; Vertebrobasilar insufficiency; Aged