Society guideline links: Syncope

Introduction — This topic includes links to society and government-sponsored guidelines from selected countries and regions around the world. We will update these links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website. Some societies may require users to log in to access their guidelines.

The recommendations in the following guidelines may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Readers who are looking for UpToDate topic reviews should use the UpToDate search box to find the relevant content.

International

●Heart Rhythm Society (HRS): Expert Consensus statement on the diagnosis and treatment of postural tachycardia syndrome, inappropriate sinus tachycardia, and vasovagal syncope (2015, reaffirmed 2020)

●American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA)/HRS: Guideline for the evaluation and management of patients with syncope (2017)

Canada

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Don't order CT head scans in adult patients with simple syncope in the absence of high-risk predictors (2021)

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Don't routinely obtain neuro-imaging studies (CT, MRI scans, or carotid Doppler ultrasonography) in the evaluation of simple syncope in patients with a normal neurological examination (2021)

●Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) and Canadian Pediatric Cardiology Association (CPCA): Society position statement on the approach to syncope in the pediatric patient (2017)

●CCS: Society position statement – Standardized approaches to the investigation of syncope (2011)

United States

●American College of Radiology (ACR): ACR Appropriateness Criteria on syncope (2021)

●Choosing Wisely: Do not routinely order electroencephalogram (EEG) as part of initial syncope work-up (2018)

●American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA)/Heart Rhythm Society (HRS): Guideline for the evaluation and management of patients with syncope (2017)

●Choosing Wisely: Avoid CT of the head in asymptomatic adult patients in the emergency department with syncope, insignificant trauma and a normal neurological evaluation (2014)

●Choosing Wisely: Don't perform imaging of the carotid arteries for simple syncope without other neurologic symptoms (2013)

●Choosing Wisely: In the evaluation of simple syncope and a normal neurological examination, don't obtain brain imaging studies (CT or MRI) (2012)

●AHA/American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF): Scientific statement on the evaluation of syncope (2006)

Europe

●European Federation of Autonomic Societies (EFAS): Consensus statement on recommendations for tilt table testing and other provocative cardiovascular autonomic tests in conditions that may cause transient loss of consciousness (2021)

●European Society of Cardiology (ESC): Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of syncope (2018)

United Kingdom

●National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): Clinical guideline on transient loss of consciousness ("blackouts") in over 16s (2010, updated 2014)

●NICE: Quality standard on transient loss of consciousness ("blackouts") in over 16s (2014)