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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Jun 1.
Published in final edited form as: Acad Emerg Med. 2012 Jun;19(6):694–702. doi: 10.1111/j.1553-2712.2012.01375.x

Table 6.

Professional Society Definitions of Syncope

Organization Definition
American College of Emergency Physicians23 Brief loss of consciousness with an inability to maintain postural tone that spontaneously and completely resolves without medical intervention.
American College of Physicians25 Transient loss of consciousness accompanied by loss of postural tone.
American Heart Association26 Transient loss of consciousness.
European Society of Cardiology22 Transient loss of consciousness due to transient global cerebral hypoperfusion characterized by rapid onset, short duration, and spontaneous recovery.