All patients consecutively referred with the first episode of transient and short-lasting loss of consciousness will have a diagnostic workup for the assessment of the most common causes of syncope, and will be evaluated for the presence of pulmonary embolism (PE) with the use of an internationally accepted algorithm including a pre-test clinical probability (PTP according to the method of Wells et al.) and a high-sensitivity quantitative D-dimer assay. If the PTP is low and D-dimer negative, PE will be excluded. All other patients will undergo confirmatory diagnostic tests (either computerized tomography or ventilation/perfusion lung scanning) in order to confirm or rule out the presence of PE.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
600
Clinica Medica 2 University of Padua
Padua, Italy
To assess the prevalence of PE in a large series of consecutive patients presenting with the first episode of syncope
Time frame: Up to 48 hours after hospital admission
To assess the prevalence of pulmonary embolism in patients with apparently unexplained syncope
Time frame: Up to one week after hospital admission
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