AIMS Recently, some studies revealed the efficacy of pacemaker implantation in decreasing recurrences in patients with vasovagal syncope. As these studies were not blinded or placebo-controlled, the benefits observed might have been due to a bias in the assessment of outcomes or to a placebo effect of the pacemaker. We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in order to a...

Syncope is a transient and abrupt loss of consciousness with complete return to preexisting neurologic function. It is classified as neurally mediated (i.e., carotid sinus hypersensitivity, situational, or vasovagal), cardiac, orthostatic, or neurogenic. Older adults are more likely to have orthostatic, carotid sinus hypersensitivity, or cardiac syncope, whereas younger adults are more likely t...

BACKGROUND β-blockers have little effectiveness in preventing vasovagal syncope in unselected populations, but they might be effective in older patients. We determined whether β-blockers prevent vasovagal syncope in an age-related fashion. METHODS AND RESULTS Two populations were studied. A proportional hazards analysis was performed on an observational cohort study of 153 patients with vasov...

Recently orthostatic training has been proposed as an effective treatment for vasovagal syncope, even though some patients may relapse. This study was undertaken to assess the effect of orthostatic training on patients with vasovagal syncope and its influencing factors. The study group comprised 125 consecutive patients (51 males and 74 females), aged 40 +/- 19 years, with a history of syncope ...

Cardiovascular disorders are a common cause of falls and syncope in older adults. The most common cardiac disorders linked to falls and syncope are carotid sinus syndrome, postprandial hypotension, orthostatic hypotension, vasovagal syncope, and bradyarrhythmias. It is important to recognize these conditions, because they may be associated with an increased mortality. Most are easily treatable.

BACKGROUND Autonomic modification through catheter ablation of ganglionated plexi (GPs) in the left atrium has been reported previously as a treatment for vasovagal syncope. This study aimed to observe the long-term outcome in a larger cohort. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 57 consecutive patients (aged 43.2±13.4 years; 35 women) with refractory vasovagal syncope were enrolled, and high-frequ...

We describe the multiresolution wavelet analysis of blood pressure waves in vasovagal syncope-affected patients compared with those in healthy people, using Haar and Gaussian bases. A comparison between scale-dependent and scale-independent measures discriminating the two classes of subjects is made. What emerges is a sort of equivalence between these two methodological approaches, that is, bot...

We present the case of a 16-year-old girl who suffered from repeated episodes of collapse and loss of consciousness which could be provoked by undertaking a stretching manoeuvre comprising a combined breath hold and neck torsion. A review of the literature is provided on other cases of so-called "stretch syncope" which appears to be a rare form of reflex syncope affecting patients in adolescence.

Clin. Pract. (2014) 11(3), 265–268 ISSN 2044-9038 part of Syncope is very common, with the overall incidence for first syncope being 6.2 per 1000 patient years, increasing to 20 in females aged over 80 years [1]. Vasovagal syncope (VVS) is by far the most common cause, explaining over 20% of cases, with an underlying cardiac cause in 10% of cases and up to 37% of cases remaining unexplained [1]...