Managing patients affected by syncope in ER: differential diagnosis and risk stratification

Syncope is a common presentation to the emergency department that account to about 1% . The efforts of the emergency physician in evaluating the patient with syncope should be directed to determine a specific diagnosis of syncope type and to make the risk stratification. The first objective can be achieved utilizing with strict adherence the guidelines on management of syncope of the European Society of Cardiology. To achieve the second objective it is necessary to evaluate the risk factors for short- and long-term outcomes. Furthermore, in case of unexplained syncope, it is necessary to determine the probability of cardiac cause. On this subject, the EGSYS score seems to be a reliable tool.