CLINICAL FEATURES OF THE SYNDROME, ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH CEREBROVASCULAR AND SOMATIC FACTORS. DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA.

Dizziness is one of the most common symptoms encountered in both outpatient and inpatient practice, and it is a clinical syndrome arising from dysfunction of the central, peripheral, and systemic mechanisms of balance regulation. According to epidemiological observations, at least 20–30% of the population experiences at least one episode of dizziness during their lifetime, and this condition increases significantly with age. This is associated with the growing prevalence of cerebrovascular, metabolic, degenerative, and anxiety-depressive disorders. It should be emphasized that dizziness is not an independent disease but a symptom that may accompany more than 80 different clinical presentations, ranging from peripheral vestibular disorders to severe cerebral vascular and cardiac diseases. In clinical practice, particular difficulty is posed by the multifactorial nature of the syndrome, as well as its close association with hypertension, diabetes, anemia, thyroid disease, and cardiovascular disorders. Modern methods of neuroimaging and vascular diagnostics make it possible to identify the structural and hemodynamic changes underlying dizziness, including vertebrobasilar insufficiency, atherosclerotic lesions, signs of intracranial hypertension, hypoplasia of the vertebral arteries, and vascular compression in cervical spine pathology.