[Epidemiology of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo].

Every ninth patient with a previous history of vertigo at the ENT Hospital of the University of Freiburg suffers from BPPV. The incidence, some important pathogenetic factors and the clinical picture of BPPV are discussed. In young men posttraumatic aetiology dominates, whereas idiopathic BPPV prevails in perimenopausal women. The affected ear tends to be hard of hearing in the high frequencies and is sometimes hypoexcitable by caloric stimulation. The diagnosis is best made by personal examination with Frenzel's glasses in darkness. Electronystagmography, brainstem evoked response audiometry, and CT scanning are of no particular value in confirming the diagnosis of BPPV.