title: Sleep syncope: treatment with a permanent pacemaker.
abstract: Vasovagal syncope usually occurs during upright posture, but Jardine et al. have described a variant that occurs at night. During "sleep syncope" patients are awakened from sleep with nausea, abdominal cramping, or a sense of impending diarrhea; get up; and faint in the bathroom. We report on a patient with recurrent sleep syncope (with physical injury) in whom an asystolic pause was documented during one of her "sleep syncope" spells. Implantation of a dual chamber pacemaker (5-year follow-up) "cured" her of further syncope. This is a report of pacemaker use for this unusual form of reflex syncope.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-2195, USA.
authors.forename: Jason A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rytlewski
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Satish R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Raj
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019462:Syncope, Vasovagal / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016896:Treatment Outcome