Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36401665›Full record

Observational studyClinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society2023

Atomoxetine for suppression of vasovagal syncope.

Robert S Sheldon, Colette Seifer, Ratika Parkash, Roopinder K Sandhu, Rasha Hamzeh, Satish R Raj

Abstract readObservational Study
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Serotonin and vasovagal syncope.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2024
    Review
  4. Twenty-five years of research on syncope.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2023
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Robert S SheldonLibin Cardiovascular Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, GAA02 HRIC Building, 3280 Hospital Drive NW AB, Calgary, T2N 4Z6, Canada. sheldon@ucalgary.ca.
Colette SeiferCardiac Sciences Programme, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
Ratika ParkashDepartment of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.
Roopinder K SandhuCedars-Sinai Medical Center, Smidt Heart Institute, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Rasha HamzehLibin Cardiovascular Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, GAA02 HRIC Building, 3280 Hospital Drive NW AB, Calgary, T2N 4Z6, Canada.
Satish R RajLibin Cardiovascular Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, GAA02 HRIC Building, 3280 Hospital Drive NW AB, Calgary, T2N 4Z6, Canada.
University of Calgary · CACedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute · USDalhousie University · CALibin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta · CAUniversity of Manitoba · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveVasovagal syncope (VVS) is a common clinical condition with few effective medical therapies. The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of atomoxetine in suppressing syncope in patients with recurrent VVS.

methodsThis was a retrospective, open-label, observational case series of 12 patients taking atomoxetine for suppression of recurrent vasovagal syncope. We compared syncope frequency in the 1 year before atomoxetine and while subjects were taking atomoxetine. We used novel applications of the Poisson distribution to describe the results as a collection of n = 1 studies.

resultsThere were 12 subjects, eight female, with a mean age 47 ± 22 years and a mean Calgary Syncope Symptom Score of 2 (diagnostic of vasovagal syncope). The patients received a mean dose of atomoxetine of 66 ± 16 mg (1.06 ± 0.21 mg/kg). The mean follow-up period was 1.21 ± 1.01 years. While taking atomoxetine, 11/12 patients appeared to improve and 7/12 had no syncope in follow-up (p = 0.0046). The annualized syncope frequency decreased from a median 5.5 (IQR 4, 6.75) syncope per year to 0 (IQR 0, 0.88) syncope per year (p = 0.002, Wilcoxon rank-sum test). According to the Poisson distribution, 7/12 subjects significantly improved with p values of < 0.0001 to 0.0235, 3/12 did not faint but had too brief follow-up times to detect significance, and 2/12 did not improve significantly.

conclusionsIn this case series, atomoxetine was a promising oral agent for the prevention of vasovagal syncope. The Poisson distribution permits individual patient-level assessment of improvement and detects insufficient follow-up despite apparent improvement.

Indexed as

Syncope, VasovagalAdultAgedAtomoxetine HydrochlorideFemaleHumansMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesSyncopeTilt-Table TestAtomoxetine HydrochlorideAtomoxetineFaintNorepinephrine transport inhibitionVasovagal syncope

Identifiers

PMID36401665
OpenAlexW4309408883

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.