Diagnoses made in a secondary care "fits, faints, and funny turns" clinic.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the diagnoses made for children referred to a "fits, faints, and funny turns" clinic.


METHODS
Prospective study of 380 children referred to a dedicated secondary care clinic over an eight year period.


RESULTS
Twenty three per cent of children were given a final diagnosis of one of the childhood epilepsies, with 48% of these having a specific epilepsy syndrome. Syncope was the commonest cause of a non-epileptic event (syncope and reflex anoxic seizures comprised 100/238, 42%) but there were a wide variety of other causes. Fifty three events (14%) were unclassified and managed without a diagnostic label or treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
In children with funny turns referred to secondary care, the diagnostic possibilities are numerous; among non-epileptic events, syncopes predominate. The majority do not have epilepsy. Unclassifiable events with no clear epileptic or non-epileptic cause are common and can be safely managed expectantly.
Fairfield General Hospital, Bury, UK. dthindley@doctors.org.uk
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Hindley
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Ali
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Robson
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005162:Factitious Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D005201:Fantasy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D020184:Night Terrors / Q000175:diagnosis; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D013575:Syncope / Q000175:diagnosis; D014717:Vertigo / Q000175:diagnosis