Dear Mr Bartstra, I would like to respond to your answer in an earlier issue of Plus magazine in May: ‘Dizziness does not go away’. I myself had that condition, and it turned out that my ENT doctor’s alert action turned out to be a bridge angle tumor that disabled the vestibular system. In order to rule out something like this, the lady in question should perhaps have this investigated. Best regards, EA Huijs
EA Huijs
Joris Bartstra, journalist with medical diploma
Dear Mr House,
A bridge angle tumor is indeed a rare but (sometimes) serious cause of vertigo. If all goes well, the GP can properly assess whether there is a risk of this (often a combination of dizziness, unsteadiness and specific hearing problems).
This lady’s story was more like a viral infection of the middle ear where the recovery was very slow; I also advised her to go back to the doctor to get the diagnosis clear again. You should realize that the condition that you turned out to have is quite rare and complaints of vertigo in the elderly are far from that.
For a magazine with a large circulation I prefer not to emphasize too much that dizziness can be based on a tumor (in the head), because then all general practitioners are stormed with anxious readers. If all goes well, the GPs themselves take the possibility of a bridge angle tumor into account, although it does indeed sometimes take a long time before the diagnosis is made. However, it is not always clear to everyone that surgery is the best treatment.
Thank you very much for your comments and thoughts.
Sincerely,
Joris Bartstra
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