Naslov
Value of Head CT Scan in the Emergency Department in Patients with Vertigo without Focal Neurological Abnormalities

Autori
Tomislav Pavlović, Marina Milošević, Sanja Trtica, Hrvoje Budinčević

Izvornik
Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences (1857-9655) 6 (2018), 9; 1664-1667

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
Vertigo ; Emergency department ; Computed tomography (CT)

Sažetak
BACKGROUND:Vertigo is a common symptom and reason for admissionto the emergencydepartment (ED). AIM: This research aimedto determine the incidence of clinically significant findings on computed tomography (CT) in patients with vertigo without focal neurological abnormalities in the ED.MATERIAL AND METHODS:The results of the native CT scans in the EDwere retrospectively analysed. Exclusion criteria included: focal neurological abnormalities, underlying malignancy, brain metastasis, previous brain operation, headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, head trauma, coagulopathy. As a clinically significant finding, we took into an accounttumour, haemorrhageand acute ischemic lesion. 72 patients fulfilled the set criteria, present vertigo, without focal neurological abnormalities. Out of 72 patients with a medianage of 62 (23-87) years old, 54% of the patients were female, and46% were male.RESULTS:Normal CT findings were foundin 44 patients (61.1%), 28 patients (38.9%) had pathological findings, out of that number 23 (31.9%) findings were clinically irrelevant and 5 (6.9%) were clinically significant. Out of the 5clinically significant findings, tumourprocess was foundin 3 (4.2%) patients, haemorrhagewas foundin 1 (1.4%) patient, andthe ischemiclesion wasfoundin 1 (1.4%) patient. Additional evaluation of five clinically significant findings showed a changeof initial diagnosis in one case, but the significanceofthe finding remained the same.CONCLUSION:Our study demonstrates a low diagnostic yield of head CT examination with 6.9% of clinically significant findings in patients with vertigo without focal neurological abnormalitie

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Kliničke medicinske znanosti

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