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Syncope
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Syncope is the medical name for fainting. It is a loss of consciousness that lasts a short time and that the person recovers from on their own. Along with consciousness goes postural tone, the muscle tension that holds the body up when standing or sitting. Behind it is a drop in the blood flow that reaches the brain. It is like a light bulb that goes out when the power fails and comes back on by itself.
That blood brings the brain a constant supply of glucose. And the flow depends on several factors: cardiac output, which is how much blood the heart pumps; systemic vascular resistance, how narrowed or open the blood vessels are; mean arterial pressure, the average pressure inside the arteries; and intravascular volume, the amount of blood inside the vessels.
Its causes can be grouped this way. Cardiovascular causes, such as arrhythmias, which are disturbances in the heart's rhythm. Cerebrovascular causes, those involving the brain's blood vessels, such as vertebrobasilar insufficiency. And causes involving the flow and tone of the vessels themselves, such as the vasovagal mechanism, the one behind the common faint.
In brief
Syncope is a transient loss of consciousness and postural tone, with spontaneous recovery, caused by reduced cerebral blood flow.
A light bulb that goes out when the power fails and comes back on by itself.
Cerebral blood flow delivers a constant supply of glucose and depends on cardiac output, systemic vascular resistance, mean arterial pressure and intravascular volume.
Its causes can be grouped as cardiovascular, such as arrhythmias; cerebrovascular, such as vertebrobasilar insufficiency; and related to vascular flow and tone, such as the vasovagal mechanism of the common faint.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingSyncope, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
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