Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Orthostatic hypotension OH , a common, often overlooked, disorder with many causes, is associated with debilitating symptoms, falls, syncope, cognitive impairment, and risk of death.
Chronic OH, a cardinal sign of autonomic dysfunction, increases with advancing age and is commonly associated with neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases, diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, and kidney failure.
Management typically involves a multidisciplinary, patient-centered, approach to arrive at an appropriate underlying diagnosis that is causing OH, treating accompanying conditions, and providing individually tailored pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatment.
We i propose a novel streamlined pathophysiological classification of OH; ii review the relationship between the cardiovascular disease continuum and OH; iii discuss OH-mediated end-organ damage; iv provide diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms to guide clinical decision making and patient care; v identify current gaps in knowledge and try to define future research directions.
Using a case-based learning approach, specific clinical scenarios are presented highlighting various presentations of OH to provide a practical guide to evaluate and manage patients who have OH. Keywords: orthostatic hypotension, cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction, case-based evaluation, pharmacology, non-pharmacological interventions, autonomic testing, Autonomic Nervous System, Electrophysiology.
