Abstract

Objective: Syncope, a temporary loss of consciousness caused by cerebral hypoperfusion, is often benign but can signal serious neurological or cardiac issues. We retrospectively analyzed pediatric syncope cases in this study.

Material and Methods: We analyzed 514 patients aged 6–18 years who presented with syncope to a pediatric neurology outpatient clinic.

Results: Most patients (36.7%) had a single episode, though recurrent cases were also common. The primary triggers were prolonged standing (17.2%) and sudden postural changes (14.4%). Prodromal symptoms such as dizziness, visual disturbances, and nausea were reported in 69.5% of cases. Electroencephalography (EEG) was performed in 72.2% of patients, revealing epileptiform activity in 27 individuals. EEG requests increased significantly in patients with recurrent syncope episodes (p<0.010). Cranial MRI was performed in 37.5% of the patients, and abnormalities were detected in 16.6%, most commonly arachnoid cysts. However, no statistically significant correlation was found between MRI utilization and the frequency of syncope episodes. Final diagnoses were predominantly vasovagal syncope (75.6%), followed by psychogenic syncope (10.3%), seizures (8.75%), cardiogenic syncope (4.5%), and hypoglycemia (0.85%).

Conclusion: These results highlight the mostly benign nature of pediatric syncope, with vasovagal syncope as the most frequent diagnosis. EEG is useful for identifying underlying epilepsy, while neuroimaging should be reserved for selected cases.

Keywords: children, EEG, syncope, vasovagal syncope

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Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to cite

1.
Menderes D, Özbudak P, Öncel EP, Üstün C, Seçer S, Yüksel D. Pediatric syncope: Clinical and demographic findings from a neurological outpatient cohort. Turk J Pediatr Dis. 2025;Early View:1-6. https://doi.org/10.12956/TJPD.2025.1258