Cause (most to least frequent)	Clinical description
Peripheral causes
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo	Transient triggered episodes of vertigo caused by dislodged canaliths in the semicircular canals
Vestibular neuritis	Spontaneous episodes of vertigo caused by inflammation of the vestibular nerve or labyrinthine organs, usually from a viral infection
Meniere disease	Spontaneous episodes of vertigo associated with unilateral hearing loss caused by excess endolymphatic fluid pressure in the inner ear
Otosclerosis	Spontaneous episodes of vertigo caused by abnormal bone growth in the middle ear and associated with conductive hearing loss
Central causes
Vestibular migraine	Spontaneous episodes of vertigo associated with migraine headaches
Cerebrovascular disease	Continuous spontaneous episodes of vertigo caused by arterial occlusion or insufficiency, especially affecting the vertebrobasilar system
Cerebellopontine angle and posterior fossa meningiomas	Continuous spontaneous episodes of dizziness caused by vestibular schwannoma (i.e., acoustic neuroma), infratentorial ependymoma, brainstem glioma, medulloblastoma, or neurofibromatosis
Other causes
Psychiatric	Initially episodic, then often continuous episodes of dizziness without another cause and associated with psychiatric condition (e.g., anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder)
Medication induced	Continuous episodes of dizziness without another cause and associated with a possible medication adverse effect
Cardiovascular/metabolic	Acute episodic symptoms that are not associated with any triggers
Orthostatic	Acute episodic symptoms associated with a change in position from supine or sitting to standing