The purpose of this study was to examine intratester reliability of a test designed to measure the standing pelvic-tilt angle, active posterior and anterior pelvic-tilt angles and ranges of motion, and the total pelvic-tilt range of motion (ROM). After an instruction session, the pelvic-tilt angles of the right side of 20 men were calculated using trigonometric functions. Ranges of motion were ...

Tilt-table testing for patients with unexplained syncope was first described in 1986 by Kenny et al. (1) and later by Almquist et al in the U.S. (2). The tilt protocols proposed differed, with the Westminster Protocol favoring prolonged passive tilt alone (1,3) and the Minneapolis Protocol routinely using isoproterenol provocation (2). Although there is now widespread acceptance of tilt testing...

Differentiating psychogenic non-epileptic attack disorder (NEAD) from true epilepsy is difficult. This often results in a misdiagnosis and unnecessary and ineffective treatment. Prolonged EEG/video recording is the most sensitive tool for differentiating NEAD from epilepsy, but is costly and therefore limited in availability. Provocative tests, particularly the use of saline injection, can redu...

30 Vasovagal syncope is a disorder that has been known for years since its clinical characteristics were masterfully described by Sir Thomas Lewis at the beginning of the 20th century.1 Traditionally, the criteria used to establish the diagnosis of a vasovagal origin in patients with syncopal episodes was based only on the presence of triggering circumstances and typical prodromic symptoms. In ...

OBJECTIVES Head-up tilt test (HUT) has been reported to be useful in the evaluation of syncope of unknown origin (SUO). However, the sensitivity of HUT with no pharmacologic provocation was relatively low and variable, ranging 32 approximately 70%. Therefore, several protocols of HUT with different degrees and durations of the tilt and modes of provocation were proposed. The purpose of this stu...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of our study was to determine whether the serotonin reuptake inhibitor sertraline hydrochloride could prevent neurocardiogenic syncope in children and adolescents resistant to or intolerant of other therapies. BACKGROUND The serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine hydrochloride has been reported to be effective in preventing neurocardiogenic syncope in adults. METHODS...

The role of tilt table testing as a diagnostic modality in children with unexplained syncope is unclear. We sent a questionnaire to members of the Pediatric and Congenital Electrophysiology Society to assess the current practice pattern. Of the 186 members, 97 (52%) replied. Twenty four percent of the pediatric electrophysiologists have completely stopped doing tilt table tests and of those per...

Shannon entropy (ShE) is a recognised tool for the quantization of the temporal organization of time series. Transfer entropy (TE) provides insight into the dependence between coupled systems. Here, signals are analysed that were produced by the cardiovascular system when a healthy human underwent a provocation test using the head-up tilt (HUT) protocol. The information provided by ShE and TE i...

AIMS The aim of this study was to describe the head-up tilt (HUT) test and carotid sinus massage (CSM) responses, and the occurrence of syncope with coughing during HUT in a large cohort of patients. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 5133 HUT were retrospectively analysed to identify patients with cough syncope. Head-up tilt followed by CSM were performed. Patients were made to cough on two sepa...

BACKGROUND Syncope due to carotid sinus hypersensitivity (CSH) may be underdiagnosed due to a low level of diagnostic suspicion and fear of complications caused by massage of the carotid sinus. OBJECTIVE To investigate the relevance of carotid sinus massage in the diagnosis of non-convulsive faints and unexplained falls. METHODS Two-hundred and fifty-nine patients with a mean age of 50+/-24...