title: Approach to the patient with syncope: venues, presentations, diagnoses.
abstract: Syncope is a frequent cause for presentation to emergency departments and urgent-care clinics. The physician should establish a confident causal diagnosis, assess prognostic implications, and provide appropriate advice to prevent recurrences. An organized approach is needed to the assessment of the patient with syncope, including a careful initial examination as well as application of specialized syncope evaluation units and structured questionnaires for history taking. The initial patient evaluation, particularly a detailed medical history, is the key to identifying the most likely diagnosis. Based on these findings, subsequent diagnostic tests can be chosen to confirm the clinical suspicion.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, Cardiac Arrhythmia and Syncope Center, University of Minnesota Medical School, 420 Delaware Street South East, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. bendi001@umn.edu
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Benditt
authors.forename: Wayne O
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Adkisson
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006801:Humans; D008487:Medical History Taking; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000379:methods; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013575:Syncope / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000191:economics / Q000209:etiology; D018667:Tilt-Table Test