13th International Congress
THE "NEW FRONTIERS"
OF ARRHYTHMIAS 1998

January 24-31, 1998
Marilleva, Trento, Italy

RT-210

Baroreceptor function during head up tilt test in patients with neurocardiogenic syncope

Andrea Passantino, Nicola Di Venere*, Cinzia Forleo, Francesco Massari, Paolo Totaro, Filippo Mastropasqua, Maria Vittoria Pitzalis*, Paolo Rizzon*.
Cardiology "Maugeri" Foundation, IRCCS, Cassano, *Institute of Cardiology, University of Bari, Italy

Introduction

The pathophysiology of neurocardiogenic syncope is a complex phenomenon, in which different mechanisms are involved¹. The role of baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) in the pathogenesis of neurocardiogenic syncope has been investigated with conflicting results. Some authors found a reduced BRS in subjects with neurocardiogenic syncope², other authors found impaired baroreflex control only in vasodepressive syncope³. Thomson et al did not find any impairment of BRS in subjects with neurocardiogenic syncope⁴ but demonstrated an impairment of cardiopulmonary reflex^4,5, while El Sayed et al⁶ demonstrated an inverse correlation between BRS and orthostatic tolerance.

Most of these studies evaluated BRS during supine position and not during tilt-up test.

The present study was addressed to evaluate BRS in patients with neurocardiogenic syncope during supine position and during the first five minutes of a positive tilt-up test.