title: Syncope or seizure? A matter of opinion.
abstract: We studied the diagnostic interpretation by physicians of written histories of 118 patients with a transient loss of consciousness. Considerable disagreement about a diagnosis of either syncope or seizure was found. Overall agreement was only 31%; an erroneous diagnosis was made in 16% of cases. We concluded that the diagnosis of a seizure after a single event is often too unreliable to justify early treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Academic Hospital, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Hoefnagels
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Padberg
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Overweg
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Roos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015588:Observer Variation; D012640:Seizures / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D013575:Syncope / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology