Fitness to Drive After Syncope and/or in Cardiovascular Disease - An Overview and Practical Advice

Abstract

The risk of syncope occurring while driving has implications for personal and public safety. Little is thought about the medical considerations related to the driving of motor vehicles. Physicians treating patients with cardiovascular disease need to acquire basic competences to be able to advise them about their fitness to drive. Current knowledge, governmental regulations, and recommendations concerning fitness to drive in patients with syncope and/or cardiovascular disease are presented. Narrative review with educational and clinical advice. Cardiovascular disease can make a driver lose control of a vehicle without warning and thereby lead to an accident. The main pathophysiological mechanisms of sudden loss of control are disturbances of brain perfusion (eg, syncope with or without cardiac arrhythmia, sudden cardiac death due to ventricular fibrillation or asystole, stroke, etc.) and marked general weakness (eg, after major surgery or in heart failure). Patients with syncope and/or cardiovascular disease should be properly advised by their physicians about their fitness to drive, and restrictions should be documented.