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Migraine is a complex disorder with many different manifestations. There has been an increasing interest in the association of migraine and vertigo. Many different terms have been developed to describe this concept, the more popular being vestibular migraine, migrainous vertigo, and migraine-associated vertigo. The most commonly cited diagnostic criteria are that of Neuhauser though this has yet to be included in the International Classification of Headache Disorders (2nd edition). At this time, there is a lack of consensus regarding migraine-related vertigo and its pathomechanism. Regardless, a few randomized controlled prospective studies have been performed to evaluate the efficacy of various medications. Topiramate has been shown to be effective for migraine-related vertigo. At this time there is no specific treatment for migraine-related dizziness outside of conventional migraine management. The genetics have yet to be fully realized though an autosomal dominant familial migraine vertigo disorder has been identified.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of canalith repositioning maneuvers (Semont, Epley, and modified maneuvers) in the treatment of posterior canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) in comparison to the rate of resolution in the untreated control cohort., Data Sources: Source articles were identified by a MEDLINE search of English language sources before 2004 plus manual crosschecks of bibliographies from identified articles, selected national meeting abstracts, review article references, and textbook chapters., Study Selection: Each controlled trial that compared canalith repositioning patients to untreated control subjects in posterior canal benign positional vertigo (blinded and unblinded) was reviewed for inclusion., Data Extraction: Data were abstracted systematically, scaled on validity and comparability, and cross-checked independently by another author., Data Synthesis: Studies were combined with fixed effects meta-analysis to estimate spontaneous resolution, 95% confidence intervals (CI) of effect size, and heterogeneity., Conclusion: Canalith repositioning is more effective than observation alone for the treatment of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, despite spontaneous resolution rates of one in three at 3 weeks. Public health implications are discussed, based on the high frequency of unrecognized BPPV reported in elderly patients, and the improvements after canalith repositioning in postural control and health-related quality of life (SF 36 Health Survey) documented in the literature.