Syncope Differential: Vasovagal Vs Cardiac Vs

Syncope causes 1-3% of ED visits and ~6% of hospital admissions. The central challenge for NPs: roughly 15% of syncope has a cardiac etiology with significantly higher 1-year mortality. Missing structural heart disease or a serious arrhythmia in a patient who 'just fainted' is a preventable catastrophe. Vasovagal syncope — the most common cause — is a diagnosis of exclusion established by pattern, not by absence of workup.