Neurootological aspects of juvenile vertigo
Abstract
Pathology from childhood up to adolescence carries physical, cognitive, motor, linguistic, perceptual, social, emotional and neurosensorial characteristics. Especially the age between the 8th year until the 14th or 15th year of life carry very special traits of a roll-over in the data processing with respect to balance regulation.
Neurootological functional data acquisition provides us with a network of information about the sensorial status of our young patients.
Major neurootological complaints leading to functional neurootological investigations are vertigo including giddiness, dizziness and nausea. These disturbances may occur acute, but already in childhood as long lasting complaints as well. The physiological and clinical vertigo syndromes are commonly found as a combination of four principal phenomena: perceptual (vertigo), ocular motor (nystagmus), postural (dystaxia) and vegetative (nausea, vomiting). These four cardinal manifestations of vertigo are related to different levels of the vestibular analyser and are requiring different methods of investigation.
The focus of this paper is directed towards the phase of restructuring of the equilibrium regulation in children between the age of 8 years until 15 years.