Diagnostic utility and outcomes of inpatient investigations for syncope in a regional setting
Schembri, Laura, Vangaveti, Venkat, and Mallett, Andrew (2023) Diagnostic utility and outcomes of inpatient investigations for syncope in a regional setting. Internal Medicine Journal, 53 (12). pp. 2208-2215.
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Abstract
Background: Syncope is a common presentation to the emergency department with a wide spectrum of aetiology. The identification of the underlying cause can be diagnostically challenging, as are the choice of investigations and the decision for inpatient versus outpatient disposition.
Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the aetiology of syncope as documented, the diagnostic yield of inpatient investigations and outcomes for adult patients admitted for syncope.
Methods: A single-centred, retrospective cohort study was conducted in adult patients admitted for syncope within a 2-year period. A total of 386 patients were identified after exclusion. Information regarding syncope aetiology, investigations and outcomes were established via chart review of electronic records.
Results: The most common cause of syncope was neural-mediated (43%), followed by orthostatic (36.5%) and cardiogenic (20.5%). The investigations performed in order of frequency included: telemetry electrocardiogram (ECG) (75.4%), computed tomography head non-contrast (58.8%), transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) (20.2%), computed tomography pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) (6.5%), MR brain (3.9%), electroencephalogram (1.3%) and carotid ultrasound (0.3%). Telemetry ECG, TTE and CTPA led to the diagnosis of syncope in a minority of patients only. As a result, 17.5% of patients had a new intervention on discharge, 5.4% were readmitted for syncope and 9.6% of patients died.
Conclusions: In the context of the inpatient evaluation of syncope, this study supports the use of telemetry ECG and TTE. Neuroimaging demonstrates a low diagnostic yield for the cause of syncope, but it may have a role to play in excluding other pathologies. Our study does not support the routine use of CTPA, EEG or carotid ultrasound in the evaluation of syncope.
| Item ID: | 78548 |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1445-5994 |
| Keywords: | adult, inpatients, patient discharge, retrospective studies, syncope |
| Copyright Information: | © 2023 The Authors. Internal Medicine Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Royal Australasian College of Physicians. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivsLicense, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.1 |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Jun 2023 02:11 |
| FoR Codes: | 32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3202 Clinical sciences > 320207 Emergency medicine @ 50% 32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3202 Clinical sciences > 320212 Intensive care @ 50% |
| SEO Codes: | 20 HEALTH > 2001 Clinical health > 200101 Diagnosis of human diseases and conditions @ 100% |
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