UNEXPLAINED FAINTING
Treatment options
View the range of different treatment options below. We’ve also created a discussion guide to help you discuss your options with your doctor.
Sometimes fainting can be caused by an abnormal heart rhythm that can be treated by catheter ablation.1 During catheter ablation, radiofrequency energy is directed through a catheter inserted in an artery toward abnormal electrical pathways in the heart tissue that are causing an arrhythmia. This scars the tissue, normalises the erratic electrical signals and corrects the arrhythmia.
If your healthcare team determines that your syncope is related to an abnormal heart rhythm from cardiac monitoring, a medical device like a pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) may be implanted to control or reset the heart rhythm so it doesn’t beat too quickly or too slowly.
1 Brignole M, etal. 2018 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of syncope, European Heart Journal, Volume 39, Issue 21, 01 June 2018, Pages 1883–1948, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehy037