• Dong Hwan Lee, Won Young Kim, Byoung Soo Shim, Tae Su Kim, Joong Ho Ahn, Jong Woo Chung, Tae Hyun Yoon, and Hong Ju Park.
• Department of Otolaryngology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan, Seoul, Republic of Korea Department of Otolaryngology, GuroSungshim Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
• Emerg Med J. 2014 Aug 1;31(8):641-4.

BackgroundTo describe the rate and risk factors of central lesions among patients with dizziness in the emergency department based on diffusion-weighted MRI, which otologists consulted for evaluation of patients with dizziness need to know.Methods902 Consecutive patients who presented with dizziness symptoms as a chief complaint in the emergency department (ED) of our tertiary referral centre between January 2011 and June 2011 were studied. Central lesions were confirmed by diffusion-weighted MRI. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used for factors predictive of central lesions.ResultsOf 645 patients who underwent MRI, 23 (3.6%) had acute central lesions (22 infarcts/1 haemorrhage). Univariate analyses revealed that older age, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, non-whirling type of dizziness symptoms and combined neurological symptoms were significantly associated with the development of central lesions (p<0.05). The incidence of central lesions in patients aged in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and ≥80s was 0, 3.9%, 3.4%, 7.4% and 16.7%. Multivariate analyses showed that hypertension (p=0.01, OR=3.42), symptoms of non-whirling type (p=0.03, OR=3.12) and combined neurological symptoms (p<0.01, OR=16.72) were independent predictors of central lesions.ConclusionsAlthough dizziness in the ED is generally benign, the prevalence of acute central lesions was 3.6% among 645 patients with dizziness who underwent MRI. Old age (>50 years), hypertension, non-whirling type of dizziness symptoms and associated neurological symptoms were significant risk factors for central lesions.Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

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