[Positional vertigo. Symptom, clinical sign, or disease?].

Introduction: We present a prospective study with the aim of assessing the differences found between position-triggered vertiginous syndromes, those diagnosed as benign paroxysmal positional vertigos (BPPV) in primary care and non-specific clinics, and those classified as BPPV at an otoneurology unit.

Patients And Method: Over a 17 month period, 432 consecutive patients were included after evaluation at a otoneurology unit receiving all referrals for vestibular pathologies. The existence of trigger factors was investigated, as was the distribution of the diagnoses associated with a positional trigger.

[Influence of non-neuronal factors on post-thyroidectomy dysphonia].

Objectives: We present a prospective study assessing the real incidence, aetiology, and evolution of vocal impairment following total thyroidectomy.

Patients And Method: Sixty-six patients who underwent total thyroidectomy between 2003 and 2006 were included, recording demographic and analytic variables, with emphasis on subjective vocal changes observed after surgery, measured by means of the GRABS scale. A control group of 25 patients operated under general anaesthesia and oro-tracheal intubation was chosen using random sampling.