Validation of the San Francisco Syncope Rule

This study was designed to validate the "San Francisco Syncope Rule". This set of rules was derived by Quinn et. al. to help guide the treatment of patients evaluated in the Emergency Department who had an episode of syncope (passed out) or near syncope (almost passed out). A rule that considers patients with an abnormal ECG, a complaint of shortness of breath, hematocrit less than 30%, systolic blood pressure less than 90 mm Hg, or a history of congestive heart failure was shown predict with a good degree of accuracy which patients would have an adverse event and require admission.