Treat Near Syncope in Older Patients like “True” Syncope

Risk stratification for syncope is difficult, especially in older patients, for whom risks are higher. One common question is whether “near syncope” (i.e., without complete loss of consciousness) carries less risk than true syncope (with loss of consciousness).

In a prospective, observational, multicenter study, researchers compared 30-day rates of serious clinical events between patients with near syncope and true syncope. Serious events were defined as death, need for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, serious arrhythmias, myocardial infarction or coronary intervention, new diagnosis of structural heart disease, stroke, pulmonary embolism, aortic dissection, subarachnoid hemorrhage, internal bleeding, or recurrent syncope leading to injury. Sy…