Medication
- Bezafibrate
- Bosentan
- Capreomycin
- Carbidopa-Levodopa
- Dipyridamole
- Enflurane
- Ephedrine
- Iloprost
- Maprotiline
- Nefopam
Procedures
Your treatment options will depend on what is causing your syncope and the results of your evaluation and testing. The goal of treatment is to keep you from having episodes of syncope. Treatment options include: Taking medications or making changes to medications you already take.
Self-care
- Ischemic cardiomyopathy (most common structural cardiac etiology of syncope)
- Valvular abnormalities (second most common structural etiology, most commonly aortic stenosis)
- Nonischemic/Dilated cardiomyopathy (third most common structural etiology)
- Hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy
- Aortic dissection
- Cardiac tamponade
- Obstructive cardiac tumors
See more
Blacking out while standing up is a condition that can occur due to various causes. Commonly known as dizziness or light headedness, blacking out is often experienced by people when raising from a position. While sudden drop in blood pressure is the commonest cause, it is important to know the other causes and ways to prevent it.
Which drugs may cause syncope?
Is there a cure for cough syncope?
What are the most common causes of syncope?
What causes blacking out when standing up?
What is the best treatment for syncope?
Passively raising or propping up your legs in the air can also help. To immediately treat someone who has fainted from vasovagal syncope, help the person lie down and lift their legs up in the air. This will restore blood flow to the brain, and the person should quickly regain consciousness.
How do doctors treat syncope?
When an irregular heartbeat causes fainting, your doctor may prescribe medications such as beta-blockers or antiarrhythmics. Your doctor may also prescribe steroids (such as fludrocortisone) or salt tablets to help you control the amount of sodium and fluids in your body.
What is the initial treatment for syncope?
Elevating the head of your bed while sleeping. You can do this by using extra pillows or by placing risers under the legs of the head of the bed. Avoiding or changing the situations or “triggers” that cause a syncope episode. Biofeedback training to control a fast heartbeat.
What is the main cause of syncope?
Syncope is a temporary loss of consciousness usually related to insufficient blood flow to the brain. It's also called fainting or "passing out." It most often occurs when blood pressure is too low (hypotension) and the heart doesn't pump enough oxygen to the brain.
Can syncope be cured?
There is no standard treatment that can cure all causes and types of vasovagal syncope. Treatment is individualized based on the cause of your recurrent symptoms. Some clinical trials for vasovagal syncope have yielded disappointing results. If frequent fainting is affecting your quality of life, talk to your doctor.
What kind of doctor specializes in syncope?
Kenneth K. Wogensen, MD, in Arcadia, California, is a neurological expert and provides evaluations for syncope, and he can help determine the underlying cause of your fainting spells. Call the office today or book an appointment online for a consultation with Dr. Wogensen.
What is the difference between fainting and syncope?
Syncope (SINK-a-pee) is another word for fainting or passing out. Someone is considered to have syncope if they become unconscious and go limp, then soon recover. For most people, syncope occurs once in a great while, if ever, and is not a sign of serious illness.
Is syncope a medical emergency?
Syncope, also known as faint, is a temporary loss of consciousness and balance usually related to insufficient blood flow to the brain. The majority of syncope patients are those whose the autonomic nervous system (Vasovagal Syncope) works unusually.
Does syncope require hospitalization?
Doctors use something called the San Francisco Syncope Rule to identify individuals who are at low risk for serious short-term problems after fainting and who don't need to be hospitalized. Yet up to one-third of fainters at low risk are still hospitalized.
What drugs can cause syncope?
Which drugs may cause syncope?Agents that reduce blood pressure (eg, antihypertensive drugs, diuretics, nitrates)Agents that affect cardiac output (eg, beta blockers, digitalis, antiarrhythmics)Agents that prolong the QT interval (eg, tricyclic antidepressants, phenothiazines, quinidine, amiodarone)More items...•
Is syncope life threatening?
In most cases, syncope is not a sign of a life-threatening problem, although some people with syncope do have a serious underlying medical condition. In young adults and children, most cases of syncope are not associated with an underlying medical problem.
Can syncope cause brain damage?
It has been reported that recurrent syncope episodes can lead to impairment of short-term memory. However, to date, the exact evidence of structural brain damage after syncope has not been reported.
What is the best medicine for vasovagal syncope?
A drug called fludrocortisone acetate that's normally used to treat low blood pressure may be helpful in preventing vasovagal syncope. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors also may be used. Therapies. Your doctor may recommend ways to decrease the pooling of blood in your legs.
How to diagnose vasovagal syncope?
Diagnosis. Diagnosing vasovagal syncope often begins with a physical examination. During the physical exam, your doctor will listen to your heart and take your blood pressure. He or she may also massage the main arteries in your neck to see if that causes you to feel faint. Your doctor may also recommend several tests to rule out other possible ...
What tests are done to see if you have a fainting spell?
Blood tests. Your doctor may look for conditions, such as anemia, that can cause or contribute to fainting spells. Tilt table test. If no heart problems appear to cause your fainting, your doctor may suggest that you undergo a tilt table test.
How to tell if you're fainting?
What you can do 1 Write down details of your symptoms, including any triggers that may have caused you to faint. 2 Make a list of any medications, vitamins and supplements you're taking. 3 Write down questions you want to ask your doctor, including questions about potential tests and treatments.
What is the best treatment for syncope?
When a temporal correlation between syncope and bradycardia has been established, pacemaker implantation is the treatment of choice. Dual-chamber or atrial pacing is preferred. In the case of a tachyarrhythmia-induced syncope, both antiarrhytmic drugs and ablation are reasonable treatment considerations.
What causes vasovagal syncope?
In susceptible individuals vasovagal syncope may be triggered by prolonged periods of upright posture, relative dehydration, excessively warm closed-in environments, or extreme emotions. Common places for these events are churches, restaurants and long queues.
What is the term for a group of related conditions in which symptomatic hypotension occurs as a result of
Neurally-mediated reflex syncope refers to a group of related conditions in which symptomatic hypotension occurs as a result of neural reflex vasodilatation and/or bradycardia ( 1, 2). The term ‘vasovagal syncope’ refers to a particular type of neurally-mediated reflex syncope also known as the ‘common faint’ ( 16).
What happens after a fainting patient is allowed to remain recumbent?
After the faint, if the patient is permitted to remain recumbent, recovery typically is very rapid , but a subsequent period of fatigue of variable duration is quite common. Typically, the diagnosis is made from the medical history alone and no testing is needed.
What are the symptoms of a symtom?
Warning symptoms may occur, and include feeling: hot or cold, sweaty, tachycardic, ‘short of air’, loss of hearing, nausea and change in breathing pattern. Physical findings often reported by bystanders (if the physician asks) in these cases include marked pallor, damp and cold (“clammy”) skin, and confusion.
How many people faint at least once in their lives?
Taken together, the studies consistently suggest that 40% of people faint at least once in their lives with females perhaps being somewhat more susceptible. Further, within three years of the initial episode, about 35% of patients experience recurrences.
Can you remember syncope?
The evaluation of patients with suspected syncope begins with a careful history taking ( Table 2 ). However, obtaining a reliable history may be a problem. Elderly patients and those with cognitive impairment may not be able to remember all events, while other patients may not volunteer a complete history due to risk of losing their job, or driving privileges. Consequently, witnesses to symptomatic events should be included in the history-taking process, whenever possible.
What is Syncope?
Syncope is a medical term for fainting or anesthesia due to reduced blood flow to the brain. This complication may occur in the following conditions:
Types of syncope
There are different types of this complication that are caused by its underlying factors.
What should you do when your syncope or faint?
When you feel the symptoms of this complication, stop working and sit or lie down. Try to keep your body level with the ground and your feet above your head. This returns blood to the brain, which helps prevent syncope. Even if you faint, sitting or lie down, you will not get injuries from falling, such as hitting your head.
When should you see a doctor?
Fainting is not usually a sign of a severe complication, but it is an excellent idea to let your doctor know about your syncope. After this complication occurs, you can call your doctor and see him if necessary. In this case, you need to see a doctor:
How is syncope diagnosed?
If you have syncope, your doctor will refer you to a syncope specialist to find out the cause. Assessment of the disease begins with a review of your medical history and physical examination. Your doctor will ask you detailed questions about the symptoms and experience of syncope, including symptoms before and during fainting.
Syncope treatment
Treatment for syncope will be based on the disease, which will be determined after the doctor evaluates and tests. The goal of treatment is to prevent syncope. These treatments include:
How long does a syncope last?
Syncopal episodes usually last only seconds or minutes. They may be accompanied by temporary feelings of confusion when you regain consciousness.
How to avoid a syncopal episode?
Try to lower your body down to the ground and elevate your legs higher than your head. This helps support blood flow back to the brain and may be enough to prevent a syncopal episode. And if you do faint, sitting or lying down will also help you avoid injuries from falling, such as hitting your head.
Why do I faint when I'm in pain?
Fainting can also result from an emotional response to a very difficult situation. Intense pain, low blood sugar, or a change in blood volume may also cause syncope. If you experience a drop in blood pressure or heart rate, you might faint abruptly. Common causes of syncope include:
Why do I faint when I see blood?
dehydration . exhaustion. Some people faint at the sight of blood. Syncope can also be triggered by multiple factors, such as if you are dehydrated and have low blood sugar. Combined, those two things could make you faint, even if you wouldn’t have fainted from only one or the other.
What is it called when you pass out?
Fainting, or passing out, is referred to medically as a syncopal episode, or syncope. Syncopal episodes are typically triggered by a sudden, temporary drop in blood flow to the brain, which leads to loss of consciousness and muscle control. The person then falls down or over, which allows blood flow to return to the brain. Returning blood flow allows the person to regain consciousness.
What are the symptoms of syncopal episodes?
These may include: nausea. slurred speech. weak pulse. changes in body temperature that make you feel suddenly flushed or chilled. sudden, clammy sweat. pale skin.
What to do if you faint in the heat?
If your fainting was caused by an identifiable trigger, such as extreme heat, make sure to avoid that trigger if possible. If blood pooling in your feet or legs is a concern, flex and exercise your feet. You may also benefit from compression socks.
When is near syncope best used?
Thus, “near syncope” is best used when the symptomatic episode is limited to the occurrence of only prodromal symptoms without actually subsequent loss of consciousness. Research suggests that the basis for near-syncope in a given individual may not be the same as the cause of true syncope in the same person.
What is the evaluation and management of syncope?
I. Evaluation and Management of Syncope: What every physician needs to know. Syncope is a symptom not a diagnosis. Syncope is characterized by transient loss of consciousness (TLOC) due to a spontaneously self-limited (usually at most a minute or two) period of cerebral hypoperfusion.
How much does syncope mortality rate depend on?
The mortality rate depends on the underlying cause of syncope. The 1-year mortality is high in patients with cardiac causes of syncope (18% to 33%), as opposed to patients with noncardiac causes of syncope (0 to 12%).
What is the difference between syncope and rhythmic tonic clonic activity?
Rhythmic tonic clonic activity (which may be absent some times in temporal lobe seizures) are indicative of se izure, while the jerky motions of syncope due to cerebral hypoperfusion are more erratic. The postictal state also differs. In seizures the patient may experience postictal confusion or headache.
When was the vasovagal syncope test first performed?
The test was introduced in the mid-1980s as a means of assessing susceptibility to vasovagal syncope. It is usually done in a quiet room with continuous ECG and beat-to-beat blood pressure recording. The protocol calls for a 70- degree head-up tilt in a drug free state.
What is a syncope?
Syncope by definition incorporates a self-limited period of loss of consciousness (usually associated with loss of postural tone as would be expected ). A careful medical history obtained by an experienced individual is the key to confirming whether a true syncope has occurred (see below). The development of detailed standardized questionnaires may prove to be a useful diagnostic aid, but as yet there is no single well-proven instrument available.
What is the term for a period of time before syncope?
The term “presyncope” is best used to depict a period of time just prior to syncope in which the patient may report any of a variety of warning or prodromal symptoms or signs (e.g., light-headedness, visual “gray-out,” palpitations, and nausea.).
