Syncope Diagnosis at Referral to a Tertiary Syncope Unit: An in-Depth Analysis of the FAST II.

Objective: A substantial number of patients with a transient loss of consciousness (T-LOC) are referred to a tertiary syncope unit without a diagnosis. This study investigates the final diagnoses reached in patients who, on referral, were undiagnosed or inaccurately diagnosed in secondary care.

Methods: This study is an in-depth analysis of the recently published Fainting Assessment Study II, a prospective cohort study in a tertiary syncope unit.

Diagnosis and treatment of orthostatic hypotension.

Orthostatic hypotension is an unusually large decrease in blood pressure on standing that increases the risk of adverse outcomes even when asymptomatic. Improvements in haemodynamic profiling with continuous blood pressure measurements have uncovered four major subtypes: initial orthostatic hypotension, delayed blood pressure recovery, classic orthostatic hypotension, and delayed orthostatic hypotension. Clinical presentations are varied and range from cognitive slowing with hypotensive unawareness or unexplained falls to classic presyncope and syncope.

[Transient loss of consciousness].

Although transient loss of consciousness (TLOC) is a common problem, hospital care for patients with TLOC is characterised by high rates of no diagnosis and misdiagnosis, accompanied by unnecessary hospital admissions and tests. We attribute these problems to increasing specialisation as well as to a blind spot for vasovagal syncope, a condition not claimed by any specialty. We suggest that all doctors seeing patients with TLOC, both in primary and secondary care, should be familiar with the presentations of the relatively harmless vasovagal syncope and the alarm symptoms of potentially life-threatening cardiac syncope.

Diagnostic criteria for initial orthostatic hypotension: a narrative review.

Abnormalities in orthostatic blood pressure changes upon active standing are associated with morbidity, mortality, and reduced quality of life. However, over the last decade, several population-based cohort studies have reported a remarkably high prevalence (between 25 and 70%) of initial orthostatic hypotension (IOH) among elderly individuals. This has raised the question as to whether the orthostatic blood pressure patterns in these community-dwelling elderly should truly be considered as pathological.

Systemic and cerebral circulatory adjustment within the first 60 s after active standing: An integrative physiological view.

Transient cardiovascular and cerebrovascular responses within the first minute of active standing provide the means to assess autonomic, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular regulation using a real-world everyday stimulus. Traditionally, these responses have been used to detect autonomic dysfunction, and to identify the hemodynamic correlates of patient symptoms and attributable causes of (pre)syncope and falls. This review addresses the physiology of systemic and cerebrovascular adjustment within the first 60 s after active standing.

Diagnostic yield and accuracy in a tertiary referral syncope unit validating the ESC guideline on syncope: a prospective cohort study.

Aims: To assess in patients with transient loss of consciousness the diagnostic yield, accuracy, and safety of the structured approach as described in the ESC guidelines in a tertiary referral syncope unit.

Methods And Results: Prospective cohort study including 264 consecutive patients (≥18 years) referred with at least one self-reported episode of transient loss of consciousness and presenting to the syncope unit between October 2012 and February 2015. The study consisted of three phases: history taking (Phase 1), autonomic function tests (AFTs) (Phase 2), and after 1.

Diagnostic accuracy of evaluation of suspected syncope in the emergency department: usual practice vs. ESC guidelines.

Background: Syncope is a frequent reason for referral to the emergency department. After excluding a potentially life-threatening condition, the second objective is to find the cause of syncope. The objective of this study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the treating physician in usual practice and to compare this to the diagnostic accuracy of a standardised evaluation, consisting of thorough history taking and physical examination by a research physician.

Orthostatic blood pressure measurements are often overlooked during the initial evaluation of syncope in the emergency department.

The renewed 2018 syncope guidelines published by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) reiterate that the initial evaluation of syncope should include history taking, physical examination, an electrocardiogram, and orthostatic blood pressure measurements (OBPM). However, the importance of evaluating for orthostatic hypotension (OH) often remains underappreciated in clinical practice. In this study, we examine the initial evaluation of syncope on an ED.

Hemodynamic Mechanisms Underlying Initial Orthostatic Hypotension, Delayed Recovery and Orthostatic Hypotension.

Objectives: Continuous noninvasive blood pressure (BP) measurement enables us to observe rapid changes in BP and to study underlying hemodynamic mechanisms. This study aimed to gain insight into the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying short-term orthostatic BP recovery patterns in a real-world clinical setting with (pre)syncope patients.

Setting And Participants: In a prospective cohort study, the active lying-to-standing test was performed in suspected (pre)syncope patients in the emergency department with continuous noninvasive finger arterial BP measurement.

Orthostatic blood pressure recovery patterns in suspected syncope in the emergency department.

Introduction: Orthostasis is a frequent trigger for (pre)syncope but some forms of orthostatic (pre)syncope have a worse prognosis than others. Routine assessment of orthostatic BP in the ED can detect classic orthostatic hypotension, but often misses these other forms of orthostatic (pre)syncope. This study aimed to determine the frequency of abnormal orthostatic BP recovery patterns in patients with (pre)syncope by using continuous non-invasive BP monitoring.

Ultrasound and NICOM in the assessment of fluid responsiveness in patients with mild sepsis in the emergency department: a pilot study.

Objective: We investigated whether combining the caval index, assessment of the global contractility of the heart and measurement of stroke volume with Noninvasive Cardiac Output Monitoring (NICOM) can aid in fluid management in the emergency department (ED) in patients with sepsis.

Setting: A prospective observational single-centre pilot study in a tertiary care centre.

Primary And Secondary Outcomes: Ultrasound was used to assess the caval index, heart contractility and presence of B-lines in the lungs.

Prospective evaluation of non-pharmacological treatment in vasovagal syncope.

Aims: Initial treatment of vasovagal syncope (VVS) consists of assuring an adequate fluid and salt intake, regular exercise and application of physical counterpressure manoeuvres. We examined the effects of this non-pharmacological treatment in patients with frequent recurrences.

Methods And Results: One hundred patients with > or =3 episodes of VVS in the 2 years prior to the start of the study openly received non-pharmacological treatment.

Central and cerebrovascular effects of leg crossing in humans with sympathetic failure.

Leg crossing increases arterial pressure and combats symptomatic orthostatic hypotension in patients with sympathetic failure. This study compared the central and cerebrovascular effects of leg crossing in patients with sympathetic failure and healthy controls. We addressed the relationship between MCA Vmean (middle cerebral artery blood velocity; using transcranial Doppler ultrasound), frontal lobe oxygenation [O2Hb (oxyhaemoglobin)] and MAP (mean arterial pressure), CO (cardiac output) and TPR (total peripheral resistance) in six patients (aged 37-67 years; three women) and age- and gender-matched controls during leg crossing.

Effects of aging on the cerebrovascular orthostatic response.

When healthy subjects stand up, it is associated with a reduction in cerebral blood velocity and oxygenation although cerebral autoregulation would be considered to prevent a decrease in cerebral perfusion. Aging is associated with a higher incidence of falls, and in the elderly falls may occur particularly during the adaptation to postural change. This study evaluated the cerebrovascular adaptation to postural change in 15 healthy younger (YNG) vs.

Reconstruction of brachial pressure from finger arterial pressure during orthostasis.

Introduction: In patients with recurrent syncope, monitoring of intra-arterial pressure during orthostatic stress testing is recommended because of the potentially sudden and rapid development of hypotension. Replacing brachial arterial pressure (BAP) by the non-invasively obtained finger arterial pressure (FinAP) has advantages because catheterization in itself may provoke a syncope.

Objective: To investigate whether reconstruction of the brachial pressure curve (ReBAP) from FinAP can account for systolic and diastolic offset in the recorded pressure on the transition from a supine to an upright position and during maintained postural stress.

Postural effects on cardiac output and mixed venous oxygen saturation in humans.

The activation of cardiovascular reflexes for postural adaptation questions whether, in healthy humans, the central blood volume is optimised to support the upright position. A functional definition of an 'optimal circulating volume' that provides the heart with enough central blood volume to establish a maximal cardiac output (CO) and mixed venous oxygen saturation (S(v,O2)) at rest was evaluated in nine healthy subjects. Preload to the heart was varied by passively changing the body position from 70 deg head-up to 20 deg head-down tilt.