Syncope: is a diagnosis a diagnosis?

Syncope is a transient symptom characterized by a sudden loss of consciousness (including by definition concomitant loss of postural tone), with subsequent spontaneous and relatively prompt recovery. Premonitory symptoms may or may not warn of the event. In some cases there are no warning symptoms, or they are lost to recall afterward. Syncope must be differentiated from other conditions in which loss of consciousness may be real or seem to be real, and which thereby mimic “true” syncope. Examples of such conditions include certain types of seizures, sleep disturbances, accidents, and some psychiatric conditions.