TY - JOUR
T1 - Seizure versus syncope
AU - McKeon, Andrew
AU - Vaughan, Carl
AU - Delanty, Norman
N1 - Funding Information:
AM has no conflicts of interest. CV has received speaker's honoraria from Pfizer, Merck Sharpe and Dohme, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, Solvay, and Menarini. ND has received unrestricted educational and research grant support from the following pharmaceutical companies: UCB Pharma, Elan Pharma, GlaxoSmithKline, Jannsen Cilag, Pfizer, and Novartis. He is or has also been a member of UCB Pharma Advisory Board (UK), Eisai Advisory Board (Europe), Pfizer Advisory Board (Europe), and the Irish advisory boards of Janssen Cilag, GlaxoSmithKline, and Elan. He has also received speaker's honoraria from UCB Pharma, Jannsen Cilag, and Shire. The decision to write and submit this review was entirely his, and was not in any way influenced or initiated by any pharmaceutical company.
PY - 2006/2
Y1 - 2006/2
N2 - One of the most common but difficult management problems in medicine is that of patients who present with a paroxysmal loss of consciousness. All too often the underlying diagnosis remains elusive. This has a cost both in terms of mortality and ongoing morbidity and in terms of the financial burden associated with hospitalisation and repeated investigations. We describe a practical approach to this clinical dilemma, which is rooted in adherence to basic principles of history taking and examination, formulation of a reasonable differential diagnosis, followed by an intelligent use of specific investigations and selection of an appropriate treatment. We also discuss the effect of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy and sudden cardiac death. Despite a careful and thorough approach to the patient with a "seizure versus syncope" problem, many will require repeated assessment before a diagnosis is made.
AB - One of the most common but difficult management problems in medicine is that of patients who present with a paroxysmal loss of consciousness. All too often the underlying diagnosis remains elusive. This has a cost both in terms of mortality and ongoing morbidity and in terms of the financial burden associated with hospitalisation and repeated investigations. We describe a practical approach to this clinical dilemma, which is rooted in adherence to basic principles of history taking and examination, formulation of a reasonable differential diagnosis, followed by an intelligent use of specific investigations and selection of an appropriate treatment. We also discuss the effect of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy and sudden cardiac death. Despite a careful and thorough approach to the patient with a "seizure versus syncope" problem, many will require repeated assessment before a diagnosis is made.
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U2 - 10.1016/S1474-4422(06)70350-7
DO - 10.1016/S1474-4422(06)70350-7
M3 - Review article
C2 - 16426993
AN - SCOPUS:30844468162
VL - 5
SP - 171
EP - 180
JO - The Lancet Neurology
JF - The Lancet Neurology
SN - 1474-4422
IS - 2
ER -