Podcast # 475: Orthostatic Vital Signs and Syncope

Author: Michael Hunt, MD

Educational Pearls:

• A recent study evaluated the relationship between abnormal orthostatic vital signs and serious outcomes within 30 days in patients over 60 presenting to the ED with syncope
• Of the roughly 2000 patients enrolled, about ⅓ had abnormal orthostatic vital signs
• There was no statistically significance between orthostatic vital signs and serious outcomes in 30 days

Editor's note: study used a composite end-point of multiple serious outcomes

References

White JL, Hollander JE, Chang AM, Nishijima DK, Lin AL, Su E, Weiss RE, Yagapen AN, Malveau SE, Adler DH, Bastani A, Baugh CW, Caterino JM, Clark CL, Diercks DB, Nicks BA, Shah MN, Stiffler KA, Storrow AB, Wilber ST, Sun BC. Orthostatic vital signs do not predict 30 day serious outcomes in older emergency department patients with syncope: A multicenter observational study. Am J Emerg Med. 2019 Mar 25;. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2019.03.036. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 30928476.

Summarized by Will Dewispelaere, MS3 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD