Electroencephalographic (EEG) monitoring was performed during head-up tilt testing (HUT) in a group of 63 consecutive patients (27 males, 36 females, mean age 41.5 years) with a history of recurrent syncope of unknown origin despite extensive clinical and laboratory evaluation. Syncope occurred in 27/63 patients (42.8%) during HUT and was cardioinhibitory in 11/27 (40.7%) and vasodepressor in 1...

BACKGROUND Syncope in older patients may be caused by a variety of disorders, including hypotension, but frequently remains unexplained. Postprandial hypotension is a common disorder of blood pressure regulation in the elderly. OBJECTIVE To determine the pathogenic mechanisms and potential role of postprandial hypotension in elderly patients with otherwise unexplained syncope. METHODS We st...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the role of the capnography head-up tilt test (CHUTT) in the diagnosis of syncope in pediatric patients. METHODS The CHUTT is a head-up tilt test with concomitant capnometry. Hyperventilation on CHUTT was diagnosed when the patient's end-tidal carbon dioxide pressure (ETPCO2) was </=25 mm Hg. Hyperventilation syncope was diagnosed when three criteria were met: loss of c...

BACKGROUND The early detection of cardiac syncope is challenging. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of 4 novel prohormones, quantifying different neurohumoral pathways, possibly involved in the pathophysiological features of cardiac syncope: midregional-pro-A-type natriuretic peptide (MRproANP), C-terminal proendothelin 1, copeptin, and midregional-proadrenomedullin. METHODS AND RESUL...

Recurrent syncope of obscure etiology, particularly in those with structural heart diseases, is associated with higher mortality rates. There are insufficient and conflicting data on prevalence and etiology of syncope in the urban Middle Eastern population. Evaluating the etiologic basis of syncope can be an effective step in prevention of morbidities and sudden cardiac death in susceptible pop...

OBJECTIVES This study sought to examine the risk of major cardiac adverse events and death in a nationwide cohort of patients without previous comorbidity admitted for syncope. BACKGROUND Syncope is a common clinical event, but knowledge of prognosis is not fully elucidated in healthy individuals. METHODS Patients without previous comorbidity admitted for syncope in Denmark from 2001 to 200...

BACKGROUND Previous studies have shown that investigation by tilt testing is very appropriate in paediatrics, but the characteristics of children and adolescents who are at high risk of recurrent syncope, once the diagnosis is established, remain unclear. This study was set up to analyse the risk factors attributed to syncope recurrence in paediatric patients. METHODS One hundred and one chil...

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to describe the cost of prior diagnostic evaluation in patients referred for evaluation of syncope whose history was typical of vasodepressor syncope. METHODS AND RESULTS Thirty consecutive patients who were referred for evaluation of syncope of undetermined origin and whose history was highly suggestive of vasodepressor syncope participated in this ...

The gold standard for diagnosing syncope is to elucidate the symptom-electrocardiogram (ECG) correlation. The ECG recordings during syncope allow physicians to either confirm or exclude an arrhythmia as the mechanism of syncope. Many studies have investigated the use of internal loop recorder (ILR), while few studies have used external loop recorder (ELR) for patients with unexplained syncope. ...

Deglutition syncope is a relatively rare cause of syncope that belongs to the category of neurally mediated reflex syncopal syndromes. The phenomenon is related to vagal reflex in context to deglutition causing atrioventricular block and acute reduction in cardiac output leading to dizziness or syncope. We present case series of two cases of deglutition syncope, of which first was managed medic...