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Letters

Syncope confusion

Christine Soong and Benjamin H. Chen
CMAJ April 21, 2015 187 (7) 521; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.115-0031
Christine Soong
Department of Medicine (Soong), University of Toronto; Division of General Internal Medicine (Soong), Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ont.; Department of Medicine (Chen), Queen’s University, Kingston, Ont.; Lennox & Addington County General Hospital (Chen), Canadian Society of Internal Medicine (Soong, Chen), Ottawa, Ont.
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Benjamin H. Chen
Department of Medicine (Soong), University of Toronto; Division of General Internal Medicine (Soong), Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ont.; Department of Medicine (Chen), Queen’s University, Kingston, Ont.; Lennox & Addington County General Hospital (Chen), Canadian Society of Internal Medicine (Soong, Chen), Ottawa, Ont.
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We thank Thiruganasambandamoorthy and Sheldon for clarifying the definition of syncope as a transient loss of consciousness due to global cerebral hypoperfusion characterized by rapid onset, short duration and spontaneous complete recovery.1 However, experts acknowledge that this approach has pragmatic limitations, particularly when applied to undifferentiated patient presentations in the emergency department. To guide clinicians in the emergency department, our approach focuses on all potential causes of transient loss of consciousness, including syncope “mimickers.” We agree that stroke, transient loss of consciousness, seizure and metabolic disturbances do not represent true syncope.

Reference

  1. ↵
    1. Sun BC,
    2. Costantino G,
    3. Barbic F,
    4. et al
    . Priorities for emergency department syncope research. Ann Emerg Med 2014;64:649–55.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
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Canadian Medical Association Journal: 187 (7)
CMAJ
Vol. 187, Issue 7
21 Apr 2015
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Syncope confusion
Christine Soong, Benjamin H. Chen
CMAJ Apr 2015, 187 (7) 521; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.115-0031

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Syncope confusion
Christine Soong, Benjamin H. Chen
CMAJ Apr 2015, 187 (7) 521; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.115-0031
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