European Heart Journal Advance Access originally published online on October 2, 2007
European Heart Journal 2007 28(21):2605-2609; doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehm430
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Tilt testing potentiated with sublingual nitroglycerin in children with unexplained syncope
1 Cardiology Department, Ospedale Valduce, Via Dane, 11, 22100 Como, Italy
2 Cardiology Department, Ospedale Umberto I, Mestre-Venezia, Italy
3 Pediatric Neuropsychiatry Department, Ospedale S. Anna, Como, Italy
4 Emergency Department, Ospedale Valduce, Como, Italy
Received 22 May 2007; revised 8 August 2007; accepted 30 August 2007; online publish-ahead-of-print 2 October 2007.
* Corresponding author. Tel: +39 031324133; fax: +39 031308047. E-mail address: gfoglia{at}valduce.it
Aims: The aim of this prospective study was to assess the diagnostic value of a sublingual nitroglycerin (NTG) potentiated head-up tilt (HUT) testing protocol in children with unexplained syncope.
Methods and results: One hundred and sixty-four consecutive paediatric patients with syncope of unknown origin and no evidence of organic heart disease (115 female, mean age 13 ± 3 years) and 29 control children underwent a sublingual NTG-potentiated tilt testing protocol. Paediatric patients and controls were tilted at 60° for 20 min and, if no symptom occurred, for other 15 min after sublingual 400 µg spray NTG administration. During the drug-free phase of the test, 13 patients (8%) and no controls had a positive response. After drug administration, a positive response occurred in another 88 patients (55%) and in four controls (14%), whereas an exaggerated response was observed in nine patients (5%) and in four controls (14%). Thus, the positive rate and specificity of sublingual NTG HUT test in children were 63 and 86%, respectively. No relevant adverse events were observed during the test.
Conclusion: Tilt testing potentiated with sublingual NTG has proved to be effective and safe in unmasking the neurally mediated origin of unexplained syncope in children. The NTG challenge greatly increased the positive rate of passive tilt, with a small decrease in specificity.
Key Words: Syncope • Children • Tilt testing • Nitroglycerin
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  G. Foglia-Manzillo and F. Giada Tilt testing potentiated with sublingual nitroglycerin in children with unexplained syncope: reply Eur. Heart J., April 2, 2008; 29(8): 1075 - 1075. [Full Text] [PDF]
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E. Jastrzebska-Maj, K. Mizia-Stec, and D. Jakubowski Tilt testing potentiated with sublingual nitroglycerin in children with unexplained syncope Eur. Heart J., April 2, 2008; 29(8): 1074 - 1075. [Full Text] [PDF]
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