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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
A tilt table test is used to evaluate the cause of unexplained fainting (syncope). During a tilt table test, you lie on a table that moves from a horizontal to a vertical position. Your heart rate and blood pressure are monitored throughout the tilt table test.
Your doctor may recommend a tilt table test if you've had repeated, unexplained episodes of fainting. A tilt table test may also be appropriate to investigate the cause of fainting if you've fainted only once, but another episode would put you at high risk of injury due to your work environment, medical history, age or other factors.
- Tilt table test. Heart Rhythm Society. http://www.hrspatients.org/patients/heart_tests/tilt_table.asp. Accessed Dec. 6, 2009.
- Olshansky B. Upright tilt table testing in the evaluation of syncope. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 7, 2009.
- Shukla GJ, et al. Syncope. Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. 2006;113:715.
- Ropper AH, et al. Faintness and syncope. In: Ropper AH, et al. Adams and Victor's Principles of Neurology. 9th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=3632736. Accessed Dec. 6, 2009.
- Diagnosing arrhythmias. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3. Accessed Dec. 6, 2009.
