- 1 On being a patient
- 2 Modern medicine: foundations, achievements, and limitations
- 3 Global patterns of disease and medical practice
- 4 Cell biology
- 5 Immunological mechanisms
- 6 Principles of clinical oncology
- 7 Infection
- 8 Sexually transmitted diseases and sexual health
- 9 Chemical and physical injuries and environmental factors and disease
- 10 Clinical pharmacology
- 11 Nutrition
- 12 Metabolic disorders
- 13 Endocrine disorders
- 14 Medical disorders in pregnancy
- 15 Gastroenterological disorders
- 16 Cardiovascular disorders
- 16.1 Structure and function
- 16.2 Clinical presentation of heart disease
- 16.2.1 Chest pain, breathlessness, and fatigue
- 16.2.2 Syncope and palpitations
- 16.3 Clinical investigation of cardiac disorders
- 16.4 Cardiac arrhythmias
- 16.5 Cardiac failure
- 16.6 Heart valve disease
- 16.7 Diseases of heart muscle
- 16.8 Pericardial disease
- 16.9 Cardiac involvement in infectious disease
- 16.10 Tumours of the heart
- 16.11 Cardiac involvement in genetic disease
- 16.12 Congenital heart disease in the adult
- 16.13 Coronary heart disease
- 16.14 Diseases of the arteries
- 16.15 The pulmonary circulation
- 16.16 Venous thromboembolism
- 16.17 Hypertension
- 16.18 Chronic peripheral oedema and lymphoedema
- 16.19 Idiopathic oedema of women
- 17 Critical care medicine
- 18 Respiratory disorders
- 19 Rheumatological disorders
- 20 Disorders of the skeleton
- 21 Disorders of the kidney and urinary tract
- 22 Disorders of the blood
- 23 Disorders of the skin
- 24 Neurological disorders
- 25 The eye
- 26 Psychiatry and drug related problems
- 27 Forensic medicine
- 28 Sports medicine
- 29 Geratology
- 30 Pain
- 31 Palliative medicine
- 32 Biochemistry in medicine
- 33 Acute medicine
Syncope and palpitations
- Chapter:
- Syncope and palpitations
- Author(s):
K. Rajappan
, A.C. Rankin
, A.D. McGavigan
, and S.M. Cobbe
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199204854.003.160202_update_001
Update:
Classification and investigation of orthostatic hypotension
Syncope is a transient episode of loss of consciousness (T-LOC) due to cerebral hypoperfusion. Its causes can be subdivided on the basis of pathophysiology, including (1) neurally mediated—or reflex—syncope; (2) orthostatic hypotension; (3) cardiac causes; and (4) cerebrovascular or psychogenic causes.
Neurocardiogenic syncope, or simple faint, is the commonest cause and is benign, but it is always important to exclude or establish the diagnosis of cardiac syncope, because this has an adverse prognosis that may be improved with appropriate treatment. Cardiac arrhythmia should be considered in all patients who have syncope associated with any of the following: (1) exertion, chest pain, or palpitations; (2) a past medical history of heart disease; (3) abnormal cardiovascular findings on examination; (4) an abnormal ECG; and (5) a family history of sudden cardiac death in people younger than 40 years old or with an inherited cardiac condition....
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- 1 On being a patient
- 2 Modern medicine: foundations, achievements, and limitations
- 3 Global patterns of disease and medical practice
- 4 Cell biology
- 5 Immunological mechanisms
- 6 Principles of clinical oncology
- 7 Infection
- 8 Sexually transmitted diseases and sexual health
- 9 Chemical and physical injuries and environmental factors and disease
- 10 Clinical pharmacology
- 11 Nutrition
- 12 Metabolic disorders
- 13 Endocrine disorders
- 14 Medical disorders in pregnancy
- 15 Gastroenterological disorders
- 16 Cardiovascular disorders
- 16.1 Structure and function
- 16.2 Clinical presentation of heart disease
- 16.2.1 Chest pain, breathlessness, and fatigue
- 16.2.2 Syncope and palpitations
- 16.3 Clinical investigation of cardiac disorders
- 16.4 Cardiac arrhythmias
- 16.5 Cardiac failure
- 16.6 Heart valve disease
- 16.7 Diseases of heart muscle
- 16.8 Pericardial disease
- 16.9 Cardiac involvement in infectious disease
- 16.10 Tumours of the heart
- 16.11 Cardiac involvement in genetic disease
- 16.12 Congenital heart disease in the adult
- 16.13 Coronary heart disease
- 16.14 Diseases of the arteries
- 16.15 The pulmonary circulation
- 16.16 Venous thromboembolism
- 16.17 Hypertension
- 16.18 Chronic peripheral oedema and lymphoedema
- 16.19 Idiopathic oedema of women
- 17 Critical care medicine
- 18 Respiratory disorders
- 19 Rheumatological disorders
- 20 Disorders of the skeleton
- 21 Disorders of the kidney and urinary tract
- 22 Disorders of the blood
- 23 Disorders of the skin
- 24 Neurological disorders
- 25 The eye
- 26 Psychiatry and drug related problems
- 27 Forensic medicine
- 28 Sports medicine
- 29 Geratology
- 30 Pain
- 31 Palliative medicine
- 32 Biochemistry in medicine
- 33 Acute medicine