New type of vertigo identified

Seoul, May 29: Scientists have identified a new type of vertigo with no known cause, that may respond to treatments.

With vertigo, people have episodes of dizziness that can last from minutes to days. Vertigo can be caused by serious conditions, such as tumours, or conditions that are fairly benign, such the inner ear disorder Meniere's disease. However, for some people, no cause can be found.

In a study published in the journal Neurology, scientists have identified a new type of vertigo where treatment may be effective.

“These conditions can be difficult to diagnose and quite debilitating for people, so it's exciting to be able to discover this new diagnosis of a condition that may respond to treatment,” said Ji- Soo Kim, of Seoul National University in South Korea.

To diagnose this new condition, the person sits in a dark room and the examiner moves the patient's head forward and then the head is shaken horizontally for about 15 seconds.

Then the patient opens his or her eyes and a video recording is taken of eye movements.

The neurologists discovered that after the test people with this new condition had eye movements called nystagmus that lasted longer than for other people.

The new condition is called recurrent spontaneous vertigo with head- shaking nystagmus.