ABSTRACT
Syncope is dened as an acute transient loss of consciousness and postural tone with spontaneous and complete recovery (Demaksian and Lamb 1958; Kapoor 2000; Soteriades et al. 2002; Nair et al. 2003; Grubb 2005). e Framingham Heart Study, which examined 7814 individuals, reported the incidence of a rst report of syncope of 6.2 per 100 personyears follow-up (Soteriades et al. 2002). Syncope is also a costly problem with an estimated annual cost of treatment of $800 million (Nyman et al. 1999), and has a signicant impact on the morbidity and mortality; cardiac syncope in particular is associated with higher mortality rates than the general population (Soteriades et al. 2002). Patients with recurrent syncope have a poor quality of life (Rose et al. 2000). Since there are numerous conditions that may lead to syncope, many patients rather than going through a focused set of tests oen undergo extensive and expensive investigations including brain scans, carotid Doppler studies, and electroencephalography routinely. e purpose of this chapter is to discuss dierent causes of syncope and methods to establish the diagnosis.
