Psychogenic syncope diagnosed by prolonged head-up tilt testing

Four patients with ‘syncope’ during prolonged headup tilt testing despite normal blood pressure and heart-rate behaviour are described. They represent 5.5% of all positive tilt-test outcomes from a prospective study of 181 consecutive patients with unexplained syncope. All four patients were female,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:QJM : An International Journal of Medicine 1995-03, Vol.88 (3), p.209-213
Main Authors: PETERSEN, M.E.V., WILLIAMS, T.R., SUTTON, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Blood Pressure
Female
Heart Rate
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Prospective Studies
Psychophysiologic Disorders - diagnosis
Syncope - physiopathology
Syncope - psychology
Tilt-Table Test
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Summary:Four patients with ‘syncope’ during prolonged headup tilt testing despite normal blood pressure and heart-rate behaviour are described. They represent 5.5% of all positive tilt-test outcomes from a prospective study of 181 consecutive patients with unexplained syncope. All four patients were female, and were both younger and more symptomatic than patients with vasovagal syncope or orthostatic hypotension. In three of the patients, clinical episodes of syncope were observed which closely resembled those provoked during tilt. It is suggested that the tilt response is psychogenic and reveals a psychiatric cause for recurrent syncope.
ISSN:0033-5614
1460-2725
1460-2393
1464-3855
1460-2393
DOI:10.1093/oxfordjournals.qjmed.a069047