A great new resource from the New England Journal of Medicine reviewing syncope and the clinical approach to patients presenting with transient loss of consciousness.
One point that deserves further discussion is the role of orthostatic blood pressure measurements in the acute setting. I’m not sure how much diagnostic value a routine orthostatic check adds in the emergency department, particularly when we try to interpret reproduction of the patient’s symptoms during the maneuver. A positive orthostatic measurement does not necessarily establish the cause of the syncopal event or exclude more concerning etiologies.
Overall, though, this is a useful review and a great educational resource for both learners and educators approaching one of the most common, and sometimes challenging, presentations in emergency medicine.