Cold beverage-induced vasovagal syncope in a healthy young adult man: a case report

Ognjen Arandelovic

doi:10.1186/s13256-020-2358-3

Cold beverage-induced vasovagal syncope in a healthy young adult man: a case report

Ognjen Arandelovic

School of Computer Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Background

Swallowing-induced syncope is rare and there are few case reports of it in the existing medical literature. Even rarer are instances involving young and healthy individuals, with no existing pre-conditions or apparent risk factors. Hence the value of such case reports in understanding the phenomenon better and potentially inferring patterns of practical interest is significant; here we describe an unusual case of a swallowing-induced syncope in a young, healthy, and active white man.

Case presentation

A healthy 32-year-old white man experienced a syncopal episode following the ingestion of a cold carbonated beverage on a hot day. He rapidly recovered consciousness and save for mild lightheadedness all ill effects disappeared within minutes. On examination no concerns were detected and he was discharged, with the cause being ascribed to esophageal stimulation effected vagus nerve overactivation.

Conclusions

The suddenness and unpredictability of swallowing-induced syncope make it a potentially dangerous condition, with risks both to the patient as well as, depending on the context, others. However, it is poorly understood due to its infrequency. The present case report adds to the body of much needed evidence which should help facilitate an improved understanding of the phenomenon.

Original language	English
Article number	37
Number of pages	2
Journal	Journal of Medical Case Reports
Volume	14
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s13256-020-2358-3
Publication status	Published - 28 Feb 2020

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

Fainting
Swallowing
Loss of consciousness
Vagus nerve
Parasympathetic

Access to Document

10.1186/s13256-020-2358-3Licence: CC BY

Arandjelović_2020_JMCR_Cold_CC
Copyright © The Author(s) 2020. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Final published version, 431 KBLicence: CC BY

Handle.net

Persistent link to portal record

Cite this

@article{f102375d98e74f658915232f651d6268,

title = "Cold beverage-induced vasovagal syncope in a healthy young adult man: a case report",

abstract = "BackgroundSwallowing-induced syncope is rare and there are few case reports of it in the existing medical literature. Even rarer are instances involving young and healthy individuals, with no existing pre-conditions or apparent risk factors. Hence the value of such case reports in understanding the phenomenon better and potentially inferring patterns of practical interest is significant; here we describe an unusual case of a swallowing-induced syncope in a young, healthy, and active white man.Case presentationA healthy 32-year-old white man experienced a syncopal episode following the ingestion of a cold carbonated beverage on a hot day. He rapidly recovered consciousness and save for mild lightheadedness all ill effects disappeared within minutes. On examination no concerns were detected and he was discharged, with the cause being ascribed to esophageal stimulation effected vagus nerve overactivation.ConclusionsThe suddenness and unpredictability of swallowing-induced syncope make it a potentially dangerous condition, with risks both to the patient as well as, depending on the context, others. However, it is poorly understood due to its infrequency. The present case report adds to the body of much needed evidence which should help facilitate an improved understanding of the phenomenon.",

keywords = "Fainting, Swallowing, Loss of consciousness, Vagus nerve, Parasympathetic",

author = "Ognjen Arandelovic",

year = "2020",

month = feb,

day = "28",

doi = "10.1186/s13256-020-2358-3",

language = "English",

volume = "14",

journal = "Journal of Medical Case Reports",

issn = "1752-1947",

publisher = "BioMed Central",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Cold beverage-induced vasovagal syncope in a healthy young adult man

T2 - a case report

AU - Arandelovic, Ognjen

PY - 2020/2/28

Y1 - 2020/2/28

N2 - BackgroundSwallowing-induced syncope is rare and there are few case reports of it in the existing medical literature. Even rarer are instances involving young and healthy individuals, with no existing pre-conditions or apparent risk factors. Hence the value of such case reports in understanding the phenomenon better and potentially inferring patterns of practical interest is significant; here we describe an unusual case of a swallowing-induced syncope in a young, healthy, and active white man.Case presentationA healthy 32-year-old white man experienced a syncopal episode following the ingestion of a cold carbonated beverage on a hot day. He rapidly recovered consciousness and save for mild lightheadedness all ill effects disappeared within minutes. On examination no concerns were detected and he was discharged, with the cause being ascribed to esophageal stimulation effected vagus nerve overactivation.ConclusionsThe suddenness and unpredictability of swallowing-induced syncope make it a potentially dangerous condition, with risks both to the patient as well as, depending on the context, others. However, it is poorly understood due to its infrequency. The present case report adds to the body of much needed evidence which should help facilitate an improved understanding of the phenomenon.

AB - BackgroundSwallowing-induced syncope is rare and there are few case reports of it in the existing medical literature. Even rarer are instances involving young and healthy individuals, with no existing pre-conditions or apparent risk factors. Hence the value of such case reports in understanding the phenomenon better and potentially inferring patterns of practical interest is significant; here we describe an unusual case of a swallowing-induced syncope in a young, healthy, and active white man.Case presentationA healthy 32-year-old white man experienced a syncopal episode following the ingestion of a cold carbonated beverage on a hot day. He rapidly recovered consciousness and save for mild lightheadedness all ill effects disappeared within minutes. On examination no concerns were detected and he was discharged, with the cause being ascribed to esophageal stimulation effected vagus nerve overactivation.ConclusionsThe suddenness and unpredictability of swallowing-induced syncope make it a potentially dangerous condition, with risks both to the patient as well as, depending on the context, others. However, it is poorly understood due to its infrequency. The present case report adds to the body of much needed evidence which should help facilitate an improved understanding of the phenomenon.

KW - Fainting

KW - Swallowing

KW - Loss of consciousness

KW - Vagus nerve

KW - Parasympathetic

U2 - 10.1186/s13256-020-2358-3

DO - 10.1186/s13256-020-2358-3

M3 - Article

SN - 1752-1947

VL - 14

JO - Journal of Medical Case Reports

JF - Journal of Medical Case Reports

M1 - 37

ER -

Cold beverage-induced vasovagal syncope in a healthy young adult man: a case report

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Handle.net

Fingerprint

Cite this