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Vertigo and Dizziness Related to Migraine:
A Diagnostic Challenge
Neuhauser H, Lempert T.
Posted: October 2004  
Cephalalgia 2004:24;83-91

Vertigo and dizziness can be related to migraine in various ways; casually, statistically, or quite frequently, just by chance. Migrainous vertigo (MV) is a vestibular syndrome caused by migraine and presents with attacks of spontaneous or positional vertigo lasting seconds to days and migrainous symptoms during the attack. MV is the most common cause of spontaneous recurrent vertigo and is presently not included in the International Headache Society classification of migraine. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and Meniere’s disease (MD) are statistically related to migraine, but the possible pathogenetic links have not been established. Moreover, migraineurs get motion sickness more often than controls. Persistent cerebellar symptoms may develop in the course of familial hemiplegic migraine. Dizziness may also be due to orthostatic hypotension, anxiety disorders, or major depression and all have an increased prevalence in patients with migraine.