Tilt table testing is a medical test that measures how being in different positions affects heart rate, heart rhythm, and blood pressure. People with unexplained lightheadedness, dizziness, or fainting may have tilt table testing to diagnose the cause of their symptoms.
Tilt table testing is performed for people who experience fainting (syncope) without a clear cause (for example, a structural heart disorder such as narrowing of an aortic valve). Tilt table testing is also used to evaluate people with unexplained lightheadedness or dizziness and recurrent falls. Sometimes tilt table testing is used to distinguish between types of syncope or syncope due to some types of epilepsy. Tilt table testing can be used to diagnose postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).
How tilt table testing is done
This person is strapped onto the table for a tilt table test.
AVID PARKER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Typically, people are strapped to a motorized table and remain lying flat for 15 minutes. Then they are tilted head up at a 60° to 80° angle for up to 45 minutes to see whether they feel faint or their blood pressure or heart rate decrease at the same time. If blood pressure does not decrease, isoproterenol (a medication that stimulates the heart) is injected into the person's vein in a dose large enough to accelerate the heart rate by 20 beats per minute, and the test is repeated.
