Has anyone ever suffered from “sudden death”, with Neurocardiogenic Syncope?
Neurocardiogenic syncope is generally benign and death is extremely rare. Sudden death is generally due to an Arrhythmia. One reason why the patient with frequent syncope needs a cardiologic opinion is that it is important to ensure that the patient truly has neurocardiogenic syncope and not a cardiac rhythm abnormality. Among patients who have true neurocardiogenic syncope, transient cardiac asystole (the heart stops beating) can infrequently be a significant component of syncope [“cardioinhibitory” component as in contrast to the “Vasodepressor” component (low blood pressure) of the NCS ] . After a number of seconds, the heart restarts spontaneously. We have not had any confirmed cases of NCS as a cause of sudden death at Mayo. Patients with a history of NCS may experience sudden death; the cause of the sudden death is almost always related to the presence of underlying heart disease. Dr Phillip A. Low , M.D.
