Syncope in the elderly

Older adults with syncope have on average a 2-year mortality rate of ~30%1–3. Understanding the diagnosis and management of syncope in older adults may help to decrease adverse outcomes. Syncope is defined as a self-limited transient loss of consciousness and postural tone due to global cerebral hypo-perfusion. Syncope and unexplained falls may be indistinguishable on clinical grounds, since there is frequently an element of retrograde amnesia. Therefore, unexplained falls in the elderly should be managed as potential syncope, especially when recurrent.