الفهرس 
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Abstract
Dizziness is a non specific term often used by patients to describe symptoms. The most common disorders lumped under this term include vertigo (spinning or motion - vestibular), presyncope (impending faint - cardiovascular), disequilibrium (unsteadiness when walking - neurogenic), and non specific dizziness e.g. giddiness (not fit the previous 3 types – psychogenic)
Dizziness and vertigo are among the most frequent symptoms, even in the neurology emergency room. where it ranks at the third place (11%) after headache (21%) and motor abnormalities (13%)
In the specialized dizzy clinic 40% have peripheral vestibular dysfunction, 10% have a central brain stem vestibular lesion, 15% have a psychiatric disorder, 25% have other problems e.g. presyncope and disequilibrium but in 10% the diagnoses remain uncertain.
Vertigo can be classified into central (neurogenic) and prepheral (vestibular or otologic) types. Prepheral type caused be problems in the vestibular system (inner ear), which is composed of semi circular canals – vestibule – and vestibular nerve. Central type caused by problems in the brain stem or the cerebellum.
The distribution of causes varies with age. In the elderly patients there is higher incidence of central causes of vertigo (about 20%), mostly due to stroke.
There is no great diagnostic test for dizziness but the keys to the diagnosis are the patient’s history and the bedside examination, additional laboratory examinations are helpful for some cases.