Abstract
Epilepsy and syncope are two main causes of transient loss of consciousness. It is important to distinguish epilepsy from syncope. However, we recognized that there were many cases of syncope that had been diagnosed as epilepsy. We need to evaluate these cases and discuss causes of misdiagnosis. This paper reports ten syncope cases which had been misdiagnosed as epilepsy in other clinics and hospitals. Nine cases have triggers and seven cases have prodromal symptoms that are characteristic of syncope. Five patients had involuntary movements while they lost their consciousness. We suspect that convulsive syncope may not be recognized some physicians. The EEGs did not have the epileptiform discharges in all cases. We could not examine all EEGs taken in other hospitals. We must observe triggers, prodromal symptoms and concomitant symptoms carefully and identify the existence of convulsive syncope to prevent misdiagnosis.
