[The tilt-table test: is it essential for adequate treatment of vasovagal syncope? Arguments against]

Abstract

The knowledge about vasovagal syncope has hugely grown since its initial description by Lewis in 1932. Nevertheless some critical gaps remain, affecting specially to the patient management. There are not enough data about the natural history of the process and, because of that, no useful markers are known to identify patients who need or would benefit from a specific treatment. A diagnostic test with a sensibility/specificity relationship good enough to be a diagnostic gold standard is lacking. Although tilt-table test can be helpful in diagnosis, its sensitivity is, nowadays, unknown. Available data about reproducibility of tilt test are scarce and sometimes contradictory, specially with positive tilt test results. Should the lack of reproducibility of positive results found by some authors be confirmed, the usefulness of serial tilt tests in selecting treatment would be seriously affected. No evidence about the existence of an effective treatment for vasovagal syncope has been published yet, not either about the advantage of an specific strategy in selecting it. Therefore, tilt test has not been proved to be a more useful tool in selecting therapy for patients with vasovagal syncope.