Vasovagal syncope and vasovagal disease.

(Hellenic Journal of Cardiology) HJC ñ 61 I solated vasovagal syncope (VVS) is not a disease, but rather the clinical manifestation of an autonomic reflex to which all (or almost all) individuals are predisposed. Why certain subjects appear to be more susceptible than others to the development of paradoxical hypotension and bradycardia, and why the event occurs at one time and not another, remain largely unknown. Isolated VVS should be distinguished from vasovagal disease, in which VVS appears as an expression of a pathological process mainly related to a generalised involvement of the autonomic nervous system. Learning to differentiate these two forms has important therapeutic consequences.