Tilt Table Procedure

(Also called Upright Tilt Testing)

An Overview

A medical problem that can have many different causes is syncope, or fainting. Syncope may occur rarely to frequently, depending on the cause. Some causes of syncope may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• vasovagal syndrome - a sudden drop in blood pressure with or without a decrease in heart rate that is caused by a dysfunction of the nerves controlling the heart and blood vessels.
  
  
• arrhythmia (Also called dysrhythmia.) - a heart rate that is too slow, too fast, or too irregular to maintain adequate blood flow to the body.
  
  
• valve disease - malfunction of one or more of the heart valves may cause an obstruction of the blood flow within the heart.
  
  
• heart attack (Also called myocardial infarction, or MI.) - damage to the heart muscle due to insufficient blood supply.

What is a Tilt Table Procedure?

When a patient has a complaint of syncope, the physician will carefully evaluate the patientes past medical history and perform a physical examination. If basic components of the examination or history do not reveal a potential cause for the syncope, and the patient has no history of heart disease, then further diagnostic procedures will be scheduled.

One such diagnostic procedure is the tilt table test. This procedure attempts to cause syncope by creating changes in posture from lying to standing. This test is performed by having the patient lie flat on a special bed or table while connected to EKG and blood pressure monitors. The bed or table is then elevated to an almost standing position to simulate the patient actually standing up from a lying position. The blood pressure and EKG are measured during the test to evaluate changes during the position changes. If the test causes an episode of syncope, then the cause of the syncope is vasovagal syndrome. The physician can then prescribe specific treatment for the syncope once the cause is known.

Reasons for the Procedure

A physician may order a tilt table procedure if recurring episodes of syncope (fainting) occur that have had certain other causes ruled out by other tests.

Risks of the Procedure

Possible risks include episodes of syncope (fainting), which are planned for.

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