Syncope & Dizziness Case Review
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Transcript Syncope & Dizziness Case Review
Amy Gutman MD ~ EMS Medical Director
[email protected] /
www.TEAEMS.com
“The only difference between syncope & sudden death is that in one
you wake up”. Engel GL. Ann Intern Med 1978
“Weak & Dizzy” is a common
complaint with both benign &
lethal causes
Etiologies of dizziness & syncope
Connection of cardiovascular &
neurovascular disorders
Assessment & management
strategies
No specific “dizziness” or
“syncope” protocols
Protocol(s) used depends upon
cause & effect(s) of symptoms
A good history & physical exam
provides diagnosis in most patients
Not the patients to test how good
you are at obtaining refusals!
82 yo WF presents with CC of “dizziness”. States intermittent,
but persistent & unpredictable moments of dizziness that “made
her head spin”. During the episodes, patient would nearly pass
out, c/o dizziness & lightheadedness with some “blurred” vision.
No CP, SOB, palpitations, seizure, loss of consciousness. No
trauma, recent illness or other complaints
Vitals & exam unremarkable by BLS crew. Patient initially did
not want to be transported to the hospital but was convinced to
get checked out. ALS crew called but unavailable
What is your differential diagnosis based upon this info?
History fairly unremarkable in otherwise healthy
patient who recently started OTC antihistamines
for sinus congestion
Vitals stable but patient had at least 3 more
episodes on the way to the ED in which she would
lean back in stretcher & become extremely dizzy
In ED, placed on a hallway bed. During her triage,
while the RN had the patient on a monitor and
was checking her pulse he noted the following:
Syncope (Greek: sunkoptein / to cut short)
Sudden & self-limiting loss of consciousness with loss of postural
tone & a spontaneous recovery. A symptom, not a diagnosis
Vertigo (Latin: vertere / to turn)
Sensation of dizziness or abnormal motion resulting from a
disorder of the sense of balance
Dizzy
Having a whirling sensation with tendency to fall; bewildered or
confused; producing giddiness
50% with no specific causes
Significant cost & time to
diagnose & manage
Unpredictability leads to
negative impact on quality of life
Management specific to the
cause / suspected cause(s); varies
significantly in effectiveness
Syncope, dizziness & vertigo are
generally symptoms rather than
diseases
Benign to fatal causes
Cardiac causes have highest
mortality rates
>500,000 new patients annually
70,000 have recurrent, infrequent,
unexplained syncope
3-6% ED visits annually
2-10% hospital admissions
25%
Syncope Mortality
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Overall
Due to Cardiac Causes
Traumatic sequellae
Fever, signs of illness
Focal neurological
symptoms
Prodromal or post-episodic
Palpitations / CP
SOB
Seizures
Nausea, Vomiting
Micturition
Loss of continence
>2 associated with 10-20%
incidence of death from
neurovascular or cardiovascular
causes within 1 year
CAD, CHF, arrhythmia
Chest pain
Abnormal ECG
Persistent orthostatic hypotension
Age >45yrs
Traumatic sequellae for any fall
Cause
Prevalence (Mean) %
Reflex-Mediated:
Vasovagal
18
Situational
5
Carotid Sinus
1
Orthostatic hypotension
8
Medications
3
Psychiatric
2
Neurological
10
Organic Heart Disease
4
Cardiac Arrhythmias
14
Unknown
34
Neurological
Orthostatic
11%
24%
• Vasovagal
Arrhythmia
•
Meds
•
Autonomic
Failure
14%
•
• Carotid Sinus
• Peripheral
vestibular
dysfunction
• Brainstem lesion
•
•
Presyncope
• Situational
•Cough
•Micturition
•
Non-CV
4%
12%
Brady
• Sick sinus
• AV block
• Aortic
Stenosis
*
Tachy
• VT
• SVT
• HOCM
Long QT
Unknown Cause = 34%
*DG Benditt, UM Cardiac Arrhythmia Center
Structural
• Pulmonary
HTN
• Psychogenic
• Metabolic
• Neurological
Migraine
Hypoxia
Hyperventilation
Somatization / Psychiatric
Intoxication
Seizures
Hypoglycemia
Sleep disorders / OSA
Subclavian steal syndrome
Basilar artery migraine (syncope + headache)
Vertebrobasilar insufficiency (syncope + vascular disease)
History & Physical Exam Including ECG
ENT Evaluation
•
Sinus CT
•
Otolith evaluation
•
Hearing exam
Neurological Testing
•
Head CT / MRI / MRA
•
Carotid Doppler
•
EEG
Metabolic
•
Cardiovascular
•
Ambulatory
•
Tilt Table
•
Echocardiogram
•
EPS
•
Angiogram
•
Stress Testing
Psychological Evaluation
Laboratory
SSX:
Onset & Duration
Provocation or Palliation
+/- & what is the reaction
Medications:
Allergies:
Associated symptoms
Sequelae
Include OTCs & topicals
PMH:
Cardiovascular, neurovascular
diseases, migraine, prior similar
episodes
Last Oral Intake:
Events
Position
Medications
Temperature
Quality
Region & Radiation
Severity
Loss of consciousness
Time
Time of day, duration of event
History & physical exam leads to cause identification in nearly half of patients
Sudden death
Deafness
Arrhythmias
Congenital heart disease
Heart attack or CVA at
young age
Seizures
Metabolic disorders
Serial vitals
Focus on cardiac &
neurologic exams
Stroke scale
Glucose
Monitor / ECG
If syncope + fall, presume a
spinal injury present until
proven otherwise
Vasovagal
Episodes after pain, fear, excitation, exertion; standing w/ locked
knees “i.e. “at attention”
Situational
Micturition, cough, swallowing
Neuralgic or
Migranous
Facial Pain or headache
Carotid Sinus
Head rotation or pressure on carotid sinus
TIA / CVA
Focal neurological symptoms that persist (CVA) or resolve within 172 hours (TIA); positive stroke scale
Subclavian
Steal
Post exercise
Seizure
Seizure activity, LOC >5 mins with post-ictal period
Murmur
Presence of heart murmur on exam or echocardiogram
Arrhythmia
Intermittent or persistent irregularity of rhythm or regularity
Psychogenic
Anxiety, hyperventilating, personal gain
Vertebral-Basilar Stroke
Diplopia, dysarthria, dysphagia,
weakness, numbness
Meniere’s
Aural fullness, deafness, tinnitus
Brainstem evoked audiometry
95% sensitive for detecting
acoustic neuromas
Multiple Sclerosis
Vertigo preceded by other
neurologic dysfunction
Psychiatric disorders
Depression 25%
Anxiety or panic disorder 25%
Somatization
Alcohol / drug abuse
Personality disorder
Hyperventilation
Syncope & presyncope
overlap
CAD, CHF, PE, dysrhythmias
Multisensory disorder
Peripheral neuropathy
Visual impairment
Musculoskeletal disorder interfering with
gait
Vestibular disorder
Cervical spondylosis
Symptoms worsened with
antidepressants & anticholinergics
May occur while sitting, driving or
position change
PERIPHERAL VERTIGO
CAUSES
Vestibular neuronitis
Labyrinthitis
Meniere’s syndrome
Head trauma
Drug-induced
CENTRAL VERTIGO CAUSES
Cerebellar infarction or
hemorrhage
Lateral medullary infarction
(Wallenberg’s syndrome)
Brainstem infarction or
hemorrhage
Multiple sclerosis
Vertebrobasilar insufficiency
Aminoglycosides, phenytoin,
phenobarbital, carbamazepine,
salicylates, quinine
Central vertigo associated with poor outcomes while peripheral vertigo is often
“benign”. Can have overlap in symptoms, therefore difficult to differentiate
CENTRAL ORIGIN
PERIPHERAL ORIGIN
Vertical, horizontal or rotary
Horizontal, torsional
May change direction with
gaze
Does not change direction with
gaze change
Not diminished by fixation
Diminished by fixation
May fatigue (if elicited by head
movement)
Does not significantly worsen
with head movement
CEREBELLAR INFARCTION
Nystagmus + dizziness
Horner’s
Syndrome:
LATERAL
MEDULLARY
INFARCTION:
WALLENBERG SYNDROME
Ptosis, Miosis, Anhidrosis
Nystagmus + dizziness
Nausea & vomiting
Nausea & vomiting
Ataxia & ipsilateral
asynergia
Ataxia & ipsilateral
asynergia
No focal weakness or motor
abnormality
Hoarseness
Horner’s syndrome
Ipsilateral facial analgesia;
contralateral body analgesia
No focal weakness or
motor abnormality
Often spontaneous
Acute dizziness after neck trauma /
manipulation
Presents with posterior circulatory
infarction symptoms
MRA may reveal double-lumen, but full
angiography has higher yield
Neurally mediated reflex mechanism with
cardioinhibitory (bradycardia) &
vasodepressor (hypotension) components
Vasovagal syncope (VVS)
Carotid sinus syndrome (CSS)
Situational syncope
Loss of the normal balance between sympathetic & parasympathetic
nervous system
Triggered by stretch & mechanoreceptors (carotid sinus, bladder,
esophagus, respiratory tract)
Peripheral venous pooling causes sudden decreased venous return
Pallor, nausea, sweating, palpitations common
Rare except in elderly
“Falls after losing balance”
Sensory nerves in carotid sinus walls
respond to stimulation increasing
afferent signals to brain stem
Reflexive increase in efferent vagal
activity & decreased sympathetic tone
results in bradycardia & vasodilation
Different syndrome than carotid sinus
hypersensitivity, similar management
Drug-induced
Primary autonomic failure
Deconditioning, parkinsonism
Secondary autonomic failure
Often from diuretics, vasodilators
Diabetes +/- neuropathy,
amyloidoisis
Alcohol
Orthostatic intolerance +/neuropathy
Decline of >20mmHg SBP or 10mmHg
DBP from supine to standing
Elderly vulnerable due to decreased
baroreceptor sensitivity, decreased
cerebral blood flow, increased renal
sodium wasting, decreased thirst
response with aging
Peripheral sympathetic tone impairment
due to diabetic neuropathy, anti-HTN
medication
Non-contrast CT helps r/o
acute hemorrhage (but not
100% accurate)
MRI more sensitive than CT for
hypoxic injury or cerebellar &
brain-stem infarctions
PET scan may improve diagnostic
accuracy
CT angiography or MRA useful
within 24 hours
Carotids often included in
evaluation
Not 1st line testing
Differentiates syncope from seizures
Evaluates NMS predisposition
Specificity of negative test 90%
Nystagmus & vertigo with peripheral
lesions when diseased side turned
downward
Peripheral nystagmus may fatigue with repeated
maneuvers
Central lesions not significantly changed
with position change
Symptoms of peripheral nystagmus
dramatically worsened with head
movement & tends to fatigue with
repeated maneuvers
PERIPHERAL VERTIGO
CENTRAL VERTIGO
Time before onset of
nystagmus
2-20 secs
0 secs
Duration of nystagmus
<1 min
>1 min
Fatiguability
Yes with repetitiion
Non-fatiguiing
Direction of nystagmus
Upbeat & torsional
May change direction
Intensity of vertigo
severe
Minimal to moderate
• Potential consequence is carotid occlusion / clot resulting in stroke
LOC often w/o prodrome
Significant injury risk
Structural heart disease is most important
risk factor for predicting risk of death from
syncope or dizziness
Acute MI / Ischemia
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Aortic dissection
Pericarditis
Pericardial tamponade
Pulmonary embolus
Pulmonary HTN
Aortic stenosis
Atrial myxoma
Bradyarrhythmias
Tachyarrhythmias
Normal or abnormal?
Normal “now” does not equal
normal “always”
Fast or slow?
Pauses?
Pacemaker?
Holter
24-48 hours
symptoms w/ arrhythmia (5%) v.
symptoms without arrhythmia (17%)
External Loop Event Recorder
Weeks to months
Limited value in sudden LOC
Loop Recorder
Months
Implantable type more convenient
Provided diagnosis in 55% of pts with
unexplained syncope compared to
conventional methods
From the files of DG Benditt, UM Cardiac Arrhythmia Center
Wide, weird & slow
Sinus brady
Symptomatic 1st degree HB
3rd degree HB
Cause often correctible with
medication adjustment
Indication for atrial
pacemaker implantation
Ventricular pacing indicated in
atrial fibrillation with slow
ventricular response
Bradycardia 36%
NSR 58%
Tachycardia 6%
Ventricles depolarizing on their
own because of no atrial
conduction
Rate between 20-40
Rate of 60-120 (all PVCs) often
called “Slow VT”
Diagnostic clue: no p waves or
flipped p waves in all leads
Wide, weird & fast or narrow &
regular
Regular or irregular, intermittent or
persistent
Cause often structural, ischemic &
pathologic – not easily corrected
with a simple medication change
Surgery (if related to stenosis or
CAD) +/- ventricular pacing often
indicated
Risk of sudden cardiac death
AKA:
Ventricular extrasystole,
premature beat, ectopic beat,
premature depolarization
Occasional monomorphic
PVCs common in normal
hearts but also seen in the
setting of heart disease
Polymorphic VT never normal
Ischemia, metabolic or
structural disorders
QT widens to point when a PVC occurs early in the cardiac cycle
falling on the apex of preceding T wave leading to VT or torsades
Antiarrhythmics
Psychoactive Agents
Erythromycin, Pentamidine, Fluconazole
Antihistamines
Phenothiazines, Amitriptyline, Imipramine, Ziprasidone
Antibiotics
Class IA & III: Quinidine, Procainamide, Sotalol, Amiodarone
Terfenadine, Astemizole
Others
Cisapride, Droperidol
VENTRICULAR TACHYCARDIA
Abnormal tissues in ventricles
generating rapid & irregular rhythm
>3 PVCs in a row; can be sustained or
unsustained
Rhythm: Regular
Rate: 150-250bpm
QRS Duration: Prolonged >120ms
P Wave: Not seen, often dissociated
VENTRICULAR FIBRILLATION
Disorganized electrical signals cause
ventricles to quiver ineffectively
Rhythm: Irregular
Rate: >250, disorganized
QRS Duration: Unrecognizable
P Wave: Not seen
Patient emergently trans-thoracially
paced in ED while receiving fluid boluses &
amiodarone
Went to OR for permanent dual-chamber
(atrial & ventricular) pacemaker
Patient’s antihistamines discontinued
(unclear if contributed to symptoms)
Discharged home a few days later with no
permanent sequellae
Ventricular > atrial > dual
chamber
Most pacemakers are
“demand” type
EKG shows a “spike”
when pacer fires
Beware the patient with a
pacemaker, syncope /
dizziness with no pacer
spikes on EKG!
Recognize symptoms & avoid provocation
Avoid alcohol, lack of sleep, environmental
stressors
Adequate hydration & food intake
Avoid drugs that lead to hypotension
Avoid activities that precipitate syncope
Preventing LOC or Injury
Supine position upon onset of prodrome
Avoid driving or other activities that could
lead to injury
Cardiovascular / neurovascular
interventions
Routine follow-up
Take prescribed medications as prescribed!
Dubin’s Guide to EKGs.
Images: Wikipedia, Google, Bing searches.
www.UpToDate.com. “Dizziness”, “Syncope”,
“Ventricular Tachyarrythmias”. 2013.
D. Okorn MD. “Approach to Dizziness”. Swedish
Family Medicine. Dec 2009
G. Bergey MD. “Acute Dizziness & Vertigo:
Diagnosis, Assessment and Management”. 2001
M. Lehmann MD. “Tacchyarrythmias”. 2010
E. Veiga, M.D, 2008
WN Kapoor. Syncope. NEJM 2000; 343: 1856-62
Freeman, R. “Neurogenic Orthostatic
Hypotension” NEJM 2008; 358: 615-624
Soteriades, et al. Incidence and Diagnosis of
Syncope. NEJM 2002; 347:878-885
Grubb, B. Neurocardiogenic Syncope. NEJM
2005; 1004-1010
DG Benditt. “Syncope - A Diagnostic & Treatment
Strategy”. Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK
Kapoor W, Med. 1990;69:160-175
JJ Blanc, et al. Eur Heart J, 2002; 23: 815-820
WN Kapoor. “Evaluation and outcome of patients
with syncope”. Medicine 1990;69:160-175
History & exam important in
providing or eliminating a diagnosis
Most causes benign & self-limited
but almost impossible to make a
prehospital diagnosis
Serious causes suspected by
abnormal CV or neuro exam
Recognize stroke syndromes that
may present with dizziness as a
prominent feature