Clinical Characteristics, Etiological Distribution of Inpatients Presenting With Syncope: A Single-center Experience / 中国循环杂志

ABSTRACT

Objectives:To analyze the clinical characteristics, etiological distribution of inpatients with syncope in our center. Methods:Patients with syncope were consecutively enrolled from September 2014 to April 2017 in Center of Arrhythmia of Fuwai Hospital. Demographics, medical history, physical examination results and laboratory tests were collected according to screen algorism to investigate the possible etiologies of syncope. Risk stratification was performed based on guidelines for the diagnosis and management of syncope (version 2009,ESC)and Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of syncope (version 2014). Results:After collecting medical history, physical examination and performing laboratory tests, three hundred patients who experienced the latest syncope within 180 days before admission was identified from 5 191 patients, the average age was (57.7 ± 15.4) years, 177 (59.0%) were male, 235 (78.3%) experienced syncope within 30 days before admission, 9.7% patients had recurrent episodes, 80.7% were defined as high risk syncope patients, 144(48.0%)patients suffered structural heart disease. Cardiac syncope was the most common etiology (214 cases,71.3%), followed by reflex syncope(44 cases,14.7%) and orthostatic hypotension (8 cases,2.7%), while etiology was not identified in the rest 34 patients (11.3%). Among all the etiologies of syncope, brandy arrhythmia was the most common reason for syncope (37.3% [112 cases]). During onset of syncope prior to hospitalization, five patients were diagnosed with severe intracranial hematoma or cerebral hemorrhage, six cardiopulmonary resuscitations were performed, and eleven patients received external direct current cardioversion. Conclusions:Etiology could be defined in most of the syncope patients admitted to our center, the prevalence of high-risk syncope and syncope due to brady arrhythmias is high in this patient cohort, treatments of the syncope patients could be improved by etiological and timely prognosis.