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Editorial
July 18, 2022

Correct Diagnosis for the Proper Treatment of Acute Vertigo—Putting the Diagnostic Horse Before the Therapeutic Cart

Author Affiliations
  • 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts
  • 2Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
  • 3Department of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
  • 4Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
  • 5Department of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
  • 6Department of Otolaryngology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
  • 7Armstrong Institute Center for Diagnostic Excellence, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
JAMA Neurol. 2022;79(9):841-843. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2022.1493

This issue of JAMA Neurology includes a methodologically rigorous systematic review and meta-analysis examining the efficacy of benzodiazepines and antihistamines in patients with acute vertigo.1 Hunter and colleagues1 chose an important, common clinical problem, systematically searched for relevant evidence, and then assessed the studies for both quality and risk of bias. Their primary outcome was symptom control of vertigo at 2 hours measured by a visual analog score. Secondary outcomes included symptom control at later time points. Symptom control is clearly an important patient-centric outcome; therefore, their study is relevant and timely.

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1 Comment for this article
Vestibular migraine
Alfred Cossari, MD | Northwell Healthcare
Why is migraine not being considered as an important and frequent etiologic or comorbid factor in the evaluation of all patients with vertigo?
CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None Reported
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