Autonomic neuroscience : basic & clinical
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Syncope may be the final common presentation of a number of clinical conditions spanning benign (i.e. neurally-mediated syncope) to life-threatening diseases (i.e. cardiac syncope). Hospitalization rate after a syncopal episode is high. An effective risk stratification is crucial to identify patients at risk of poor prognosis in the short term period to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions. ⋯ A new tool for syncope management is represented by the Syncope Unit in the ED or in an outpatient setting. Syncope Unit may reduce hospitalization and length of hospital stay. However, further studies are needed to clarify whether syncope patients' prognosis can be also improved.