Cost of diagnosis and treatment of syncope in patients admitted to a cardiology unit

Abstract

The cost per diagnosis and treatment of a patient admitted because of syncope varies widely with important differences depending on the specific cause.

Syncope and Structural Heart Disease: Historical Criteria for Vasovagal Syncope and Ventricular Tachycardia

“…These diagnostic attempts are also expensive. Five studies from the US for adults, 24 Canada, 25 the US for children, 26 Spain, 27 and England 28 estimated the costs in US dollars of investigating syncope were between US$1,509 and US$4,704 per patient, and between US$1,509 and US$6,928 per diagnosis.…”

Syncope in Patients with Organic Heart Disease

“…Decision algorithms regarding admission or discharge from the emergency room and observations concerning short-term survival have been developed. 30,31 The presence of organic heart disease alone raises concern that syncope may be due to a potentially life-threatening process, but this concern has not been readily incorporated into guidelines based on good clinical evidence. Nevertheless, a patient with syncope who has organic heart disease, and for whom the cause is not easily determined, must be considered a candidate for hospital admission.…”

How to Differentiate Syncope from Seizure

“…2 The investigation of loss of consciousness can be costly and intrusive and is often inconclusive. [3][4][5][6][7] We first review the presentations of epilepsy, syncope, and convulsive syncope, and then review how to distinguish syncope from epilepsy in patients who are diagnostic dilemmas.…”