Sudbury Vertigo Differentiation Tool — Central vs. Peripheral Vertigo

The Sudbury Vertigo Differentiation Tool is a bedside clinical decision aid developed to help emergency physicians differentiate central from peripheral causes of acute, spontaneous, persistent vertigo and dizziness. It combines three clinical examination tests — Head Impulse Test (HIT), Skew Deviation, and Nystagmus pattern — based on the validated HINTS examination, adapted with Sudbury modifications. The tool helps identify the minority of patients with dangerously central causes (stroke, cerebellar infarction, tumor) among the larger population presenting with benign peripheral vestibular disorders (vestibular neuritis, BPPV).