Test 3 Flashcards
what are the ddx for dizziness
- Vertigo
- Acute severe vertigo
- Recurrent positional vertigo
- Recurrent spontaneous vertigo
- Syncope or presyncope
- Arrhythmia
- Valvular disease
- Acute coronary syndrome
- Brugada syndrome
- Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome
- Carbon monoxide poisoning
- Orthostasis
- Subarachnoid hemorrhage
- Transient ischemic attack
- Stroke
- Orthostatic hypotension/POTS
- Dehydration
- Disequilibrium
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Parkinson’s
- B12 deficiency
- Cataracts
- Lyme
- Lightheadedness
- Hypoglycemia
- Anxiety
- Encephalopathy
- Medication side effects
shuffling gait, bradykinesia, and wide based ataxic turns
parkinson’s disease
unsteady gait
peripheral neuropathy
ataxic gait
cerebellar disorder
HINTS
Head Impulse, Nystagmus, Test of skew
what is spontaneous nystagmus
movement of the eyes without a cognitive, visual or vestibular stimulus, occurs consistently with fixed central gaze position stationary, upright, and neutral positions
Gaze Nystagmus
holding off center gaze produces eye movement
when assesing nystagmus what do you note?
unilateral or bilateral
horizontal, vertical or rotational
suppression
Vestibular-ocular reflex, Head-Impulse (or head thrust) test
Thrust patients head 20-30 degrees while the patient fixates on the examiner’s nose
unidirectional, horizonatal Nystagmus
peripheral vertigo
bidirectional, rotational or pure vertical Nystagmus
central vertigo
horizontal with the fast phase beating away from the hypoactive labyrinth
Peripheral vertigos
Down beat, torsional or true vertical nystagmus
central vertigo
which nystagmus can be suppressed by visal fixation?
Peripheral nystagmus
catch-up saccade to re-fixate on the target (your nose) when thrust is in the direction of the lesion (head thrust)
peripheral vertigo
Test of Skew
assessed by asking the patient to look straight ahead, then cover and uncover each eye
test of skew +
Vertical deviation of the covered eye after uncovering indicative of central vertigo
Dix-Hallpike, Nylan-Barany maneuvers, or George’s test
Observe patient at rest, test extraocular motions (EOM). Rotate and extend head, lay patient down and hold position for 30 second or patient tolerance
Dix-Hallpike, Nylan-Barany maneuvers, or George’s test + means
positional vertigos
Romberg Tests
The patient is asked to remove his shoes and stand with his two feet together. The arms are held next to the body or crossed in front of the body.
The clinician asks the patient to first stand quietly with eyes open, and subsequently with eyes closed. The patient tries to maintain his balance. For safety, it is essential that the observer stand close to the patient to prevent potential injury if the patient were to fall. When the patients closes his eyes, he should not orient himself by light, sense or sound, as this could influence the test result and cause a false positive outcome.
The Romberg test is scored by counting the seconds the patient is able to stand with eyes closed.
Sharpened Romberg Tests
he patient has to place his feet in heel-to-toe position, with one foot directly in front of the other.
the assessment is performed first with eyes open and then with eyes closed.
The patient crosses his arms over his chest, and the open palm of the hand lies on the opposite shoulder. The patient also distributes his weight over both his feet and holds his chin parallel with the floor
Romberg and Sharpened Romberg Tests + eyes open
cerebellar disorder
Romberg and Sharpened Romberg Tests + eye closed
peripheral neuropathy or vestibular disorder
Past pointing
ask patient to touch your fingers with eyes open, and then eyes closed