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Abstract

Upon completion of the chapter, the student will be able to:

  1. 1.

    Describe the mechanisms that give rise to symptoms of dizziness and syncope among older adults.

  2. 2.

    Create a differential diagnosis for etiologies of dizziness and syncope in older adults utilizing key historical and physical examination data to create a differential diagnosis.

  3. 3.

    Identify and describe the prognosis and treatment of the common causes of dizziness and syncope in the elderly.

Material in this chapter is based on the following chapters in Cassel CK, Leipzig RM, Cohen HJ, Larson EB, Meier DE, eds. Geriatric Medicine: An Evidence-Based Approach, 4th ed. New York: Springer, 2003: Kapoor WN. Syncope in the Elderly, pp. 957–966. Nanda A, Tinetti ME. Chronic Dizziness and Vertigo, pp. 995–1008. Selections edited by Rainier P. Soriano.

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Suggested Readings

  • Kapoor WN. Syncope. N Engl J Med 2000;343(25):1856–1862. An excellent review article on the approach to patients with syncope.

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  • Kapoor WN. Syncope in the elderly. In: Cassel CK, Leipzig RM, Cohen HJ, et al., eds. Geriatric Medicine, 4th ed. New York: Springer, 2003:957–966.

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  • Nanda A, Tinetti ME. Chronic dizziness and vertigo. In: Cassel CK, Leipzig RM, Cohen HJ, et al., eds. Geriatric Medicine, 4th ed. New York: Springer, 2003:995–1008.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tinetti ME, Williams CS, Gill TM. Dizziness among older adults: A possible geriatric syndrome. Ann Intern Med 2000;132:337–344. A cross-sectional population study on the predisposing characteristics and situational factors associated with dizziness.

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Soriano, R.P. (2007). Dizziness and Syncope. In: Soriano, R.P., Fernandez, H.M., Cassel, C.K., Leipzig, R.M. (eds) Fundamentals of Geriatric Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-32326-8_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-32326-8_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-32324-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-32326-8

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