Acute vestibular syndrome (AVS) in children is an uncommon but clinically challenging presentation, often requiring rapid differentiation between peripheral and central causes. Evidence focusing specifically on AVS in the pediatric population using standardized vestibular classifications remains limited....
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Audiologists and vestibular specialists seeing pediatric patients should apply structured clinical criteria to differentiate peripheral from central causes of acute vertigo, as the two require different management pathways; however, specific protocol changes depend on the study's full diagnostic criteria, which should be reviewed.
Acute vertigo in children is frequently misattributed or delayed in diagnosis, and clearer etiological characterization could reduce unnecessary imaging and improve referral accuracy.
- 01Study characterized etiology and clinical features of acute vestibular disorders in children.
- 02Key clinical goal: distinguishing peripheral (inner ear) from central (brain) causes of vertigo.
- 03Published in Frontiers in Neurology; study design appears observational.
- 04Findings could support faster, more accurate triage in pediatric vestibular cases.
- 05Peripheral vestibular disorders are generally more common in children than central ones.
Peripheral and central causes of acute vestibular disorders in children have distinguishable clinical characteristics.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42657253
- DOI
- 10.3389/fneur.2026.1883728.
- Journal
- Frontiers in Neurology
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Children presenting with acute vestibular disorders (vertigo)
- Intervention
- Clinical and etiological characterization of acute vestibular disorders
Primary outcomes
Etiology distribution of acute vestibular disorders; Clinical differentiation of peripheral vs. central causes