Copeptin: a blood test marker of syncope

Copeptin (CPT) is regarded as a stress hormone, and as a novel marker of acute disease, and it has never been tested for a role in diagnosing syncope. The main objectives of the study were to measure CPT in patients suffering from syncope, to determine its diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, and compare it with that in patients with falls and mild trauma. The secondary objective was to determine whether different types of syncope correlate with different levels of CPT.

Fifty-one patients suffering from syncope and 51 suffering from falls without syncope were included in this study. Patients with a diagnosis of acute comorbidity were excluded. The diagnostic work was in accordance with the Guidelines of the European Cardiology Society. The level of CPT was measured in each patient evaluating the mean values in syncope vs. falls and in the different syncope type and the values over or under the normal threshold.

Of the 51 patients with syncope, 44 had abnormal and 7 normal CPT levels. Of the 51 patients with falls, 47 had normal and 4 abnormal levels of CPT. There was no difference in mean CPT levels in patients with different types of syncope. There was no correlation between levels of CPT and age or sex. There was a relationship between normal CPT levels and falls.

Copeptin is an efficient marker of syncope. It is useful for confirming or ruling out a diagnosis of syncope in patients who are unable to provide a definite history or when the event is unwitnessed.