title: Acute constant dizziness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This article describes an approach to the diagnosis and management of acute constant dizziness, one of the most unnerving presentations in medicine. Patients with acute constant dizziness can be completely debilitated by the symptoms. Most cases are caused by a self-limited disorder, typically vestibular neuritis. However, a significant proportion of cases harbor a stroke that could be life threatening. Discriminating a self-limited disorder from a life-threatening disorder can be challenging and often hinges on findings, which may be subtle, from the ocular motor examination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Early research indicates that bedside ocular motor findings play a critical role in differentiating vestibular neuritis from stroke.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This article describes an approach to the patient with acute constant dizziness.
authors.affiliation: kakerber@umich.edu
authors.forename: Kevin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kerber
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004244:Dizziness / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000379:methods; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D011187:Posture; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D013577:Syndrome; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D015837:Vestibular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D020338:Vestibular Neuronitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones