[Pre-syncope and syncope at the operating table--diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities]

Standing in long-lasting operations can be a trigger for neurocardiogenic syncopes for the personal in the operating theatre. We report on a 37-year-old surgeon who suffered since childhood from more than 100 syncopes and presyncopes. That was the reason for him to think of giving up his profession. The head-up tilt-test proved the mechanism of a neurocardiogenic syncope. No further syncope has occurred for 16 months during the therapy with theophyllin.