心源性晕厥与非心源性晕厥患者的不同临床特点

目的：探讨心源性晕厥与非心源性晕厥患者的不同临床特点。方法：对晕厥原因待查收住院的患者的临床资料进行回顾性分析。结果：在心源性晕厥与非心源性晕厥患者中，〉60岁者分别占53.3％、21.7％，男性患者分别占64．4％、60．9％，有基础疾病者分别占55．6％、43.5％，非频繁发作者分别占80．0％、65．0％，有前驱症状者分别占84．4％、58．7％，有发作后症状者分别占73.3％、43．5％。结论：心源性晕厥以老年人多见，大部分有前驱症状与发作后症状，非心源性晕厥以青年人居多，两者都以非频繁发作居多。     

动态心电图在心源性晕厥临床诊断中的应用价值

目的评价动态心电图(Holter)在心律失常引起的心源性晕厥的临床诊断中的应用价值。方法对21例不明原因黑朦、晕厥的患者,行24h或更长时间的动态心电图(Holter)检查,捕捉患者黑朦晕厥等症状发作时心电图变化情况。结果21例患者行Holter检查期间有6例出现黑朦、晕厥发作,其中5例患者症状发作时Holter记录发现3.0s以上窦性停搏,1例患者出现短阵性室性心动过速,均确定为心律失常引起的心源性晕厥。结论Holter检查对于心律失常引起的心源性晕厥患者的临床诊断有着很高的应用价值。     

什么是倾斜试验

晕厥是临床常见疾病 ,占急诊的 3% ,住院患者的 1%～ 6 % ,而血管迷走性晕厥 (ＶＶＳ)是临床最常见的病症 ,属非器质性心脏病 ,是晕厥中最常见的类型 ,占晕厥的 2 0 %～ 4 0 %。ＶＶＳ在不发作时几乎无任何症状 ,对自主神经系统的刺激较敏感。ＶＶＳ患者在直立状态时 ,由于回心     

血管迷走性晕厥的家族遗传特征

目的探讨血管迷走性晕厥(VVS)患者的家族遗传特征。方法对383例行倾斜试验(HUTT)检查的不明原因晕厥(UPS)患者详细询问晕厥家族史,并记录建档。结果①9.4%(36/383)UPS患者存在晕厥家族史,HUTT阳性且有晕厥家族史者占12.0%(23/191)。②UPS患者女性明显多于男性,男性有晕厥病史者其后代(一级亲属)男性晕厥发病几率增加18.6%,女性有晕厥病史者其后代(一级亲属)发生晕厥比率女性>男性。③UPS患者21.7%(83/383)、有晕厥家族史且HUTT阳性患者39.1%(9/23)晕厥发作时存在诱因。④有晕厥家族史且HUTT阳性患者混合型比率高于全体HUTT阳性患者(34.8%vs27.7%)。⑤HUTT阳性患者有无晕厥家族史在性别及年龄组间(<18岁与≥18岁)比较差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论VVS存在遗传倾向,尤其是一级亲属有晕厥史者后代晕厥发生几率明显增高,外界因素可促进晕厥发生。     

老年人晕厥的临床特征分析

目的分析老年人晕厥的临床特征。方法整理、归纳老年晕厥106例的临床资料。结果老年人晕厥以男性居多,心源性为主(51.9%),脑源性次之(29.2%);晕厥发作大多在运动时(70.7%);绝大多数病例(89.6%)存在2种或2种以上基础疾病和(或)合并症;发作时伴发心律(率)和血压或心电图的异常,或发作后伴发心绞痛或胸闷或呼吸困难,高度提示心脏或血管原因;本组死亡10例,心源性者7/10,其中4例有心力衰竭。结论晕厥在老年人群中常见,其中心源性居多,自限性差,是疾病预后不良的危险因素;复杂的基础疾病和(或)合并症等多个因素共同参与晕厥的发生。     

直立倾斜试验对儿童晕厥患者的临床应用

目的观察直立倾斜试验对儿童晕厥患者的诊断应用价值。方法对32例不明原因晕厥患儿进行直立倾斜实验的结果进行回顾性分析。结果32例患儿中阳性23例,占71.88%,基础实验阳性9例,占28.12%,异丙肾上腺素诱发14例,占43.75%。结论直立倾斜试验对儿童血管迷走性晕厥的诊断有重要临床应用价值,加用异丙肾上腺素可提高试验的阳性率。     

不明原因晕厥的发病机制与脑血流的关系

晕厥在临床上是指各种原因引起的一过性脑供血不足 ,所致以意识丧失为主的临床症候群。是临床上常见的危急症状。关于晕厥的发病机制除了与心脏病相关及部分心脏外原因 ,大多数晕厥原因不明。原因不明的晕厥从广义上说是指所有神经介导性晕厥 ,而血管迷走型晕厥 (ＶＳＳ)最常见 ,故狭义上不明原因晕厥即指ＶＳＳ[1 ] 。目前ＴＴＴ(直立倾斜试验 )的广泛开展被公认为ＶＳＳ的诊断和评价的金标准[1 ] 。国际公认的ＶＳＳ临床诊断标准为 :ａ .有 1次以上的晕厥发作史。ｂ .新近所做的神经学检查正常。ｃ .没有应用引起体位性低血压的药物史。ｄ…     

直立倾斜试验对不明原因晕厥的临床应用

目的探讨直立倾斜试验在不明原因晕厥患者中筛查血管迷走性晕厥的价值。方法对52例不明原因晕厥患者进行直立倾斜试验,严密观察其血压、心率的变化。结果52例患者中阳性30例,占57．7％;基础倾斜试验阳性5例,异丙肾上腺素激发倾斜试验阳性25例;其中,心脏抑制型5例（16．7％）,血管抑制型8例（26．6％）,混合型17例（56．7％）。结论直立倾斜试验能简捷、有效地把血管迷走性晕厥从不明原因晕厥患者中筛查出来,明确诊断,值得临床推广应用。     

直立倾斜试验在不明原因晕厥中的应用108例分析

目的探讨直立倾斜试验(HUTT)在不明原因晕厥患者中筛查血管迷走性晕厥的价值。方法对108例不明原因晕厥患者进行直立倾斜试验,严密观察其血压、心率、心电图的变化。结果 108例中阳性62例,占57.4%;基础倾斜试验阳性21例(19.4%),硝酸甘油激发倾斜试验阳性41例(38%);其中,心脏抑制型12例(19.3%),血管抑制型20例(32.3%),混合型30例(48.4%)。结论直立倾斜试验能够简便的把血管迷走性晕厥从不明原因晕厥患者中筛查出来,明确诊断,值得广泛推广。     

儿童晕厥临床分析

目的:探讨儿童晕厥的发生、发展规律,为临床诊治提供依据.方法:回顾性分析54例晕厥患儿的临床资料.结果:自主神经介导晕厥发病率占57.3%,其中血管迷走性晕厥占51.6%;神经源性晕厥占9.0%,心源性晕厥占5.0%,精神性晕厥占4.0%.结论:自主神经介导晕厥发病率最高,尤其以血管迷走性晕厥最多见,其次是神经源性晕厥、心源性晕厥、精神性晕厥,仍有部分原因未明.     

主动脉夹层29例临床分析

目的:探讨主动脉夹层的病因、临床特点、治疗方法及预后。方法:回顾性分析本院主动脉夹层患者29例临床资料。结果:中老年患者多由高血压引起(18/24),青年患者主要以马凡氏综合症引起(3/5),大部分患者临床表现为胸痛、腹痛,少部分表现为晕厥、腹部搏动性包块、胸腔积血等。内科药物治疗12例中好转出院10例,死亡2例;动脉腔内隔绝术10例中治愈10例;手术治疗7例中治愈5例,死亡2例。结论:主动脉夹层是少见和危险的疾病,高血压是引起中老年人主动脉夹层的主要因素,青年人主动脉夹层主要由马凡氏综合症引起。早期诊断和积极治疗可挽救病人生命。     

Admission for syncope: evaluation, cost and prognosis

BACKGROUND: Despite extensive in-hospital evaluation the cause of syncope remains unexplained in up to 40% of patients. AIMS: To determine the application and cost of diagnostic tests, cost of hospital stay, success of evaluation and prognosis of patients admitted via the emergency department after syncope. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study including all consecutive patients admitted via the emergency department for evaluation of syncope between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1998. The findings obtained from clinical history, physical examination and diagnostic tests were reviewed systematically. The costs of specific tests and hospital stay were analysed. Patients were followed until 31 December 1998. RESULTS: 127 patients underwent a median of 4 diagnostic tests (interquartile range, 3 to 6) over 12 days (IQR 8 to 17). The overall median cost of syncope evaluation was 106,728 ATS/7,756 EUR (IQR 70,860 to 143,583 ATS) per patient; the cost of diagnostic tests per patient was 6,863 ATS/499 EUR (IQR 3,345 to 11,969 ATS); hospital maintenance and in-hospital care accounted for the major part of these costs [median 97,680 ATS/7,099 EUR (IQR 65,120 to 138,380 ATS)]. At the time of hospital discharge, syncope remained unexplained in 48 patients (38%). The strength of agreement between the emergency department diagnosis and the discharge diagnosis was moderate (kappa = 0.49, 95% confidence interval 0.36 to 0.61). None of the patients had recurrent syncope or died during the hospital stay. Within the first 30 days after the index event 2 patients (2%) died due to known pre-existing diseases. CONCLUSION: The emergency department diagnosis markedly influenced the work-up of syncope, but not the cost of evaluation. The moderate diagnostic yield, high cost of in-hospital evaluation and good short term prognosis indicate the need for alternative strategies of in-hospital evaluation.     

Susceptibility to neuromediated syncope after acute myocardial infarction

BACKGROUND: Syncope after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a common clinical problem. It may be hypothesised that remodelling and neurohormonal changes following AMI may predispose to neuromediated syncope. DESIGN: To address this issue we prospectively evaluated the incidence of positive results of head-up tilt-table testing in 40 patients following AMI and 40 age and sex matched controls without a history of syncope. The mechanisms of tilt-induced changes in autonomic tone were assessed using spectral analysis of heart rate variability. The patients were followed-up for one year. RESULTS: Positive results of tilt-test occurred in 4 (10%) controls and 13 (33%) AMI patients (P = 0.01). No significant differences in sympathovagal interaction (assessed by a low frequency/high frequency ratio) were detected between the groups before tilting (2. 9 +/- 1.9 vs. 3.1 +/- 2.2; NS). However, dynamic changes of this parameter differed significantly during the first 5 symptomless minutes of the active phase of tilt-test. The ratio increased in the majority of controls (87%) and decreased in the majority of patients (62%) (P < 0.0001). During one year follow-up, syncope or presyncope occurred in 10 (25%) AMI patients but did not occur in any control subject (P < 0.001). The sensitivity, specificity and predictive accuracy of an early tilt-test after AMI for the prediction of syncope or presyncope was 70%, 80% and 78%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Patients after AMI are prone to neuromediated reactions. Sympathetic withdrawal seems to be the most likely mechanism of syncope. The role of tilt testing for identification of patients susceptible to syncope or presyncope after AMI needs further investigation.     

Near-infrared spectroscopy in evaluation of cerebral oxygenation during vasovagal syncope

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) offers a non-invasive, real-time monitoring of cerebral oxygenation. This method is based on the oxygenation and the light wavelength dependent absorption of near-infrared light by tissue chromophores, e.g. oxyhaemoglobin and deoxyhaemoglobin. The objective of the present study was the application of NIRS for evaluation of the brain function during vasovagal syncope (VVS). The VVS is a clinical syndrome affecting ca 3.5% of the population and for which the widely used diagnostic examination in this disease entity is the head-up tilt table test (HUT). In this study 69 patients with a history of VVS were examined using HUT. In 42 patients VVS was provoked. Results of the examination have shown that the changes in cerebral oxygenation measured by the NIRS technique are distinctly visible before the syncope. A gradual decrease of oxyhaemoglobin followed by its sudden drop was observed in all the VVS patients. Changes in the oxyhaemoglobin concentration measured by NIRS were observed on average 3.3 min before the syncope. They preceded the presyncope symptoms about 1.3 min (p < 0.005), the blood pressure and heart rate drop 2.2 min (p < 0.0001) and the arterial blood saturation 2.6 min (p < 0.00001).     

Syncope in acute pulmonary embolism.

BACKGROUND: Syncope is a possible but little known presenting manifestation of acute pulmonary embolism (PE). The importance of syncope at the presentation of acute PE is not known. OBJECTIVES: To report the frequency and to establish the prognostic significance of syncope at the presentation of acute PE. METHODS: A retrospective review of the records of 154 consecutive patients admitted to an Internal Medicine service with acute PE. RESULTS: Fourteen patients with acute PE (9.1%) had syncope at presentation. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics (including respiratory failure, right heart failure and arterial hypotension), and hospital mortality were similar in patients with or without syncope. CONCLUSIONS: Syncope is not an uncommonly presenting manifestation of acute PE. Patients with acute PE and syncope have similar characteristics to those without syncope. Syncope does not seem to determine a poor prognosis.     

Predicting adverse outcomes in syncope

Syncope is a common presentation to the Emergency Department (ED); however, appropriate management and indications for hospitalization remain an ongoing challenge. The objective of this study was to determine if a predefined decision rule could accurately identify patients with syncope likely to have an adverse outcome or critical intervention. A prospective, observational, cohort study was conducted of consecutive ED patients aged 18 years or older presenting with syncope. A clinical decision rule was developed a priori to identify patients at risk if they met any of the following 8 criteria: 1) Signs and symptoms of acute coronary syndrome; 2) Signs of conduction disease; 3) Worrisome cardiac history; 4) Valvular heart disease by history or physical examination; 5) Family history of sudden death; 6) Persistent abnormal vital signs in the ED; 7) Volume depletion; 8) Primary central nervous system event. The primary outcome was either a critical intervention or an adverse outcome within 30 days. Among 362 patients enrolled with syncope, 293 (81%) patients completed their 30-day follow-up. Of these, 201 (69%) were admitted. There were 68 patients (23%) who had either a critical intervention or adverse outcome. The rule identified 66/68 patients who met the outcome for a sensitivity of 97% (95% confidence interval 93-100%) and specificity of 62% (56-69%). This pathway may be useful in identifying patients with syncope who are likely to have adverse outcome or critical interventions. Implementation and multicenter validation is needed before widespread application.     

Clinical history in the diagnosis of the cardiac syncope–the predictive scoring system

Background: Cardiac syncope represents clinical situation with serious prognosis. The aim of the present study was to develop the diagnostic scoring system based on the clinical history allowing to distinguish between cardiac and noncardiac syncope. Methods: Clinical history was obtained in the form of the structured questionnaire in 60 patients with cardiac syncope (mean age 70 ± 10 years, 33 men) an in 140 patients with noncardiac syncope (mean age 45 ± 20 years, 44 men). Multivariate regression analysis identified seven variables that were included in the final regression model. Results: The age above 55 years, presence of structural heart disease, syncope in supine position, absence of prodromal symptoms, and chest pain before syncope were predictive of cardiac syncope. Predictors of noncardiac syncope were recovery duration of more than 1 minute and syncope occurring immediately after standing up. A diagnostic point score was derived from the regression coefficients. The sum of the points identified patients with cardiac syncope if the diagnostic point score was ≤2. Diagnostic performance of the score was assessed on the validation group of 67 patients with syncope (21 patients with cardiac syncope and 46 patients with noncardiac syncope). Sensitivity was 81%, specificity 84.8%, positive predictive value 70.8%, and negative predictive value 90.7%. Conclusion: Predictive model based on parameters form clinical history of the patients may help to distinguish between cardiac and other causes of syncope. (PACE 2011; 34:1480–1485)     

Long-term follow-up results of tilt training therapy in patients with recurrent neurocardiogenic syncope

Tilt twining therapy is considered as a first choice treatment for neurocardiogenic syncope in the Department of Cardiology, University of Leuven. However, long-term compliance to therapy may be difficult when patients become asymptomatic. In a single center uncontrolled study, the long-term clinical outcome of 38 patients was studied after a follow-up period of 43 +/- 7.8 months. At the time of assessment 29 patients had abandoned tilt twining therapy, while 9 still continued on a regular basis. In this series, 31 (82%) of 38 patients were free from syncope and 25 (66%) of 38 were completely asymptomatic. During follow-up, seven patients reported the recurrence of at least one syncope. Of these seven patients, six had discontinued tilt training therapy. The number of syncopes after discontinuation was significantly lower as compared with the period before initiation of tilt twining. In only one patient syncope recurrence was observed during rather irregular tilt training therapy. Moreover, in 19 patients who abandoned tilt training after about 1 year, no syncope recurrence was reported during daily life, which suggests that the disturbed autonomic reflex activity in these patients may have been restored.     

DDD Pacing with Rate Drop Response Function Versus DDI with Rate Hysteresis Pacing for Cardioinhibitory Vasovagal Syncope

Background: The effectiveness of cardiac pacing in preventing vasovagal syncope remains controversial. However, DDI pacing with rate hysteresis has been reported to prevent the recurrence of Cardioinhibitory vasovagal syncope in up to 35% of affected subjects and to reduce the overall incidence of syncopal episodes in the others. Recently, DDD pacing with a new promising rate drop response function (Medtronic Thera-I model 7960) has become available in clinical practice. Aim of the study: The aim of the present open trial was to test the effectiveness of this new pacing modality in patients with Cardioinhibitory vasovagal syncope. Study population and methods: The study population included 20 patients (12 males and 8 females; mean age 61.1 ± 14 yrs) with recurrent syncope (mean number of prior episode = 6.8, range 5–11) and Cardioinhibitory responses during two head-up tilt tests: the first diagnostic and the second during drug therapy with either β-blockade or etilephrine. The study patients were randomized to receive either DDI pacing with rate hysteresis (8 patients) or DDD pacing with rate drop response function (11 patients). The head-up tilt test performed 1 month after pacemaker implantation was positive in 3 of 12 patients (25%) with DDD pacing with rate drop response function and in 5 of 8 patients (62.5%) with DDI pacing with rate hysteresis. The mean duration of follow-up was 17.7 ± 7.4 months. During follow-up no patients with a DDD pacemaker with rate drop response function had syncope, while 3 of 8 patients with a DDI pacemaker with rate hysteresis had recurrence of syncope (P < 0.05). Conclusions: These data suggest that DDD pacing with rate drop response function is effective in Cardioinhibitory vasovagal syncope and may be preferable to DDI pacing with rate hysteresis.     

A study of 178 consecutive vasovagal syncopal reactions from the perspective of safety

BACKGROUND: While vasovagal syncopal reactions have been studied in the past, there are several safety questions that could be further addressed. The purpose of this study was to address these safety questions. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: One hundred seventy-eight vasovagal reactions were reported in 1999 from 194,000 blood donations. The reactions were retrospectively reviewed for 38 variables that included donor demographics, symptoms, injury, and final disposition. RESULTS: Sixty-one percent of the syncopal reactions occurred at the refreshment table and 12 percent offsite. Fourteen percent of the donors sustained an injury, usually to the head (10%). Eleven donors (6%) had additional medical care in an emergency room: 4 for injuries, 3 for delayed recovery, and 4 for offsite syncope. None of the donors was admitted to the hospital. One of the injured donors developed postconcussion syndrome and had later sequelae. CONCLUSION: Syncopal reactions most commonly occur at the refreshment table, where preventive safety measures against trauma could be applied. A significant number of syncopal reactions occur offsite, where the environment is less safe. The injuries that occur, particularly to the head, may in rare cases lead to long-term sequelae.