The presentation of syncope and epilepsy can be very similar, which, in combination with a limited range of diagnostic tests and a shortage of both neurologists and electrophysiolo-gists, has contributed to an incorrect diagnosis of epilepsy in more than 150,000 UK patients. Syncope has a lifetime incidence of roughly 50%, whereas epilepsy has a prevalence of just under 1%. If a patient blacks out, there is a very good chance that the cause is cardiovascular and not neuro-cerebral. Recent data suggest that in adults diagnosed with epilepsy, the rate of misdiagnosis is as high as 30%, and as high as 40% in children.
展开▼
