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Seizures pp 271–283Cite as

Seizures and Syncope

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Part of the book series: Current Clinical Neurology ((CCP))

Abstract

Syncope, defined as an abrupt loss of consciousness and postural tone caused by cerebral hypoperfusion with spontaneous recovery, is a common clinical problem, accounting for 3% of emergency room visits and 6% of general hospital admissions in the United States (1). A subset of these patients (up to 12%) have an associated convulsive reaction, which may be difficult to differentiate from epilepsy (2). This entity has been designated convulsive syncope. It is estimated that as many as 20–30% of patients diagnosed with epilepsy may in fact suffer from convulsive syncope (3,4). The intent of this chapter is to review the approach to the patient with syncope, with an emphasis toward differentiating syncope from seizures.

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Authors
  1. Suneet Mittal MD
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  2. Bruce B. Lerman MD
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

    Norman Delanty MB, FRCPI (Consultant Neurologist) (Consultant Neurologist)

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© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Mittal, S., Lerman, B.B. (2002). Seizures and Syncope. In: Delanty, N. (eds) Seizures. Current Clinical Neurology. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-094-0_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-094-0_17

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-61737-207-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-094-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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