title: [The management of syncope in the hospital: the OESIL Study (Osservatorio Epidemiologico della Sincope nel Lazio)].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  While syncope is generally considered a frequent finding in clinical practice, no clear epidemiological evidence is available about the relevance of such an event in the general population of Italy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The OESIL Study was designed and undertaken in 15 hospitals of the Italian region of Latium in order to assess the percentage of emergency-room visits and admissions due to syncope, as well as to analyze the in-hospital diagnostic work-up performed for this condition.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During a two-month observation period, 781 (372 males and 409 females, mean age 55.2 (22.8 years) consecutive patients came to the emergency rooms of the 15 hospitals included in the investigation due to a syncope spell (0.9% of emergency room visits); 450/781 patients (57.6%) were subsequently hospitalized (1.3% of all admissions): 48.0% of the admissions were admitted to a general medical ward, 29.3% to an observation ward, 13.3% to a cardiology section, 1.6% to a neurology section and 7.8% to other clinical sections (neurosurgery, general surgery). The mean duration of in-hospital stay was 6.9 (5.8 days; range 1-40 days). During the hospitalization period, 93.1% of patients underwent an ECG, 51.0% an EEG, 44.3% a CT scan of the central nervous system, 40.2% an echocardiogram and 19.5% a tilt-test. The syncope spell was considered to have a cardiovascular origin in 33.8% of the cases and a non-cardiovascular in 11.6% of the cases, while the origin was unknown in 54.4% of the cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Collected data support the idea that syncope represents a frequent event in the general population and is responsible for a significant percentage of emergency-room visits and hospital admissions. However, the performance of conventional diagnostic work-ups is far from being satisfactory.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Malattie del Cuore, Ospedale S. Filippo Neri, Roma.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ammirati
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Colivicchi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Minardi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Lio
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Terranova
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scaffidi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rapino
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Proietti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uguccioni
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carunchio
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Azzolini
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Neri
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Accogli
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sunseri
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Orazi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mariani
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fraioli
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Calcagno
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Luca
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013575:Syncope / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*
vernacular_title: Gestione della sincope in ospedale: lo Studio OESIL (Osservatorio Epidemiologico della Sincope nel Lazio).