• J M Larrañaga-Moreira, C Barbeito-Caamaño, A Bouzas-Mosquera, F J Broullón-Molanes, N Álvarez-García, and J M Vázquez-Rodríguez.
• Servicio de Cardiología, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de A Coruña, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de A Coruña (INIBIC), A Coruña, España. Electronic address: c.larranaga88@gmail.com.
• Rev Clin Esp. 2021 Apr 1; 221 (4): 217220217-220.

IntroductionSyncope is the motivation for numerous diagnostic tests, among them transthoracic echocardiography (TTE); however, previous evidence suggests there is little utility in this test. Our objective was to assess its diagnostic yield in syncope, analysing the effect of age and sex.Material And MethodsWe conducted an observational study that included patients with syncope and who underwent TTE between 1990-2015. We defined diagnostic findings related to syncope and performed a descriptive analysis, assessing the diagnostic yield (overall and according to age and sex).ResultsThe study included 3,302 patients and measured a diagnostic yield of 8.8%; the most common finding was ventricular dysfunction (4.5%). The probability of a diagnostic TTE significantly increased with age (p<.001) but was low for patients younger than 50 years (2.3%). The male sex was significantly related with a diagnostic TTE (p<.001), mostly due to the higher rate of ventricular dysfunction.ConclusionsThe diagnostic yield of TTE in patients with syncope is moderate, low in patients younger than 50 years and lower in women than in men. These factors should be considered when conducting a diagnostic study of patients with syncope.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Medicina Interna (SEMI). All rights reserved.

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