Somatosensory Vertigo

Cervical vertigo is unlike other vertigo syndromes, and has given rise to violent controversy. Neck afferents not only assist the coordination of eye, head and body, but also affect spatial orientation and control of posture. This implies that stimulation of, or lesions in, these structures could produce cervical vertigo. In fact, unilateral local anaesthesia of the upper dorsal cervical roots induces ataxia and nystagmus in animals, and ataxia without nystagmus in man. Cervical vertigo, if it exists outside these experimental conditions, is obviously characterised by ataxia and unsteadiness of gait rather than by a clear rotational or linear vertigo.