imported>OAbot: Open access bot: url-access updated in citation with #oabot.

2025-05-24T14:10:33Z

Open access bot: url-access updated in citation with #oabot.

New page

{{Short description|Sudden fall without loss of consciousness}}
[[File:Une_leçon_clinique_à_la_Salpêtrière.jpg | thumb | right | Depiction of a drop attack.]]
A '''drop attack''' is a sudden [[falling (accident)|fall]] without [[unconsciousness|loss of consciousness]]. Drop attacks stem from diverse mechanisms, including [[orthopedic surgery|orthopedic]] causes (for example, [[muscle weakness|leg weakness]] and [[joint stability|knee instability]]), [[hemodynamics|hemodynamic]] causes (for example, transient [[vertebrobasilar insufficiency]], a type of interruption of [[blood flow]] to the brain), and [[nervous system|neurologic]] causes (such as [[epileptic seizure]]s or unstable [[vestibular system|vestibular]] function), among other reasons. Those affected typically experience abrupt leg weakness, sometimes after sudden movement of the head. The weakness may persist for hours.

The term "drop attack", also known as "cryptogenic drop attack" or "La maladie des genoux bleus";<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stevens |first1=D. L. |last2=Matthews |first2=W. B. |date=1973-02-24 |title=Cryptogenic Drop Attacks: An Affliction of Women |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/1/5851/439 |journal=Br Med J |language=en |volume=1 |issue=5851 |pages=439–442 |doi=10.1136/bmj.1.5851.439 |issn=0007-1447 |pmc=1588502 |pmid=4689829}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Butsch |first1=Raphael |last2=Schneemann |first2=Markus |date=2014-06-27 |title=Two women with recurrent falls: La maladie des genoux bleus alias cryptogenic drop attacks |url=https://casereports.bmj.com/content/2014/bcr-2013-200855 |journal=Case Reports |language=en |volume=2014 |pages=bcr2013200855 |doi=10.1136/bcr-2013-200855 |issn=1757-790X |pmc=4078483 |pmid=24973344}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Revell |first1=Emily R. |last2=Gillespie |first2=David |last3=Morris |first3=Paul G. |last4=Stone |first4=Jon |date=2021-01-01 |title=Drop attacks as a subtype of FND: A cognitive behavioural model using grounded theory |journal=Epilepsy & Behavior Reports |volume=16 |pages=100491 |doi=10.1016/j.ebr.2021.100491 |issn=2589-9864 |pmc=8550987 |pmid=34746733}}</ref> is used to categorize otherwise unexplained falls from a wide variety of causes and is considered ambiguous medical terminology; drop attacks are currently reported much less often than in the past, possibly as a result of better [[medical diagnosis|diagnostic]] precision.<ref name=Rubenstein>{{cite journal|last1=Rubenstein|first1=L. Z.|title=Falls in older people: epidemiology, risk factors and strategies for prevention|journal=Age and Ageing|date=1 September 2006|volume=35|issue=Supplement 2|pages=ii37–ii41|doi=10.1093/ageing/afl084|pmid=16926202|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=Bisdorff>{{cite journal|last1=Bisdorff|first1=A|last2=Von Brevern|first2=M|last3=Lempert|first3=T|last4=Newman-Toker|first4=DE|title=Classification of vestibular symptoms: towards an international classification of vestibular disorders|journal=Journal of Vestibular Research: Equilibrium & Orientation|date=2009|volume=19|issue=1–2|pages=1–13|doi=10.3233/VES-2009-0343|pmid=19893191|doi-access=free}}</ref> By definition, drop attacks exclude [[syncope (medicine)|syncopal falls (fainting)]], which involve short loss of consciousness. In [[neurology]], the term "drop attack" is used to describe certain types of seizure which occur in [[epilepsy]].<ref name=Zamponi-2011>{{cite journal|last1=Zamponi|first1=N.|last2=Passamonti|first2=C.|last3=Cesaroni|first3=E.|last4=Trignani|first4=R.|last5=Rychlicki|first5=F.|title=Effectiveness of vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) in patients with drop-attacks and different epileptic syndromes|journal=Seizure|volume=20|issue=6|pages=468–474|doi=10.1016/j.seizure.2011.02.011|pmid=21396833|year=2011|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=Abd-El-Barr-2010>{{cite journal|last1=Abd-El-Barr|first1=Muhammad M.|last2=Joseph|first2=Jacob R.|last3=Schultz|first3=Rebecca|last4=Edmonds|first4=Joseph L.|last5=Wilfong|first5=Angus A.|last6=Yoshor|first6=Daniel|title=Vagus nerve stimulation for drop attacks in a pediatric population|journal=Epilepsy & Behavior|volume=19|issue=3|pages=394–399|doi=10.1016/j.yebeh.2010.06.044|year=2010|pmid=20800554|s2cid=13346234}}</ref> Drop attacks that have a vestibular origin within the [[inner ear]] may be experienced by some people in the later stages of [[Ménière's disease]] (these may be referred to as Tumarkin [drop] attacks, or as Tumarkin's [[Otolithic membrane|otolithic]] crisis).<ref name=Ruckenstein-1999>{{cite book|last1=Ruckenstein|first1=MJ|last2=Shea|first2=JJ Jr|editor=Harris, JP|title=Meniere's Disease|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M1tyxfMr4z4C&pg=PA266|year=1999|publisher=Kugler Publications|isbn=978-90-6299-162-4|page=266}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Hayback|first1=PJ|title=Mèniére's Disease|url=http://vestibular.org/menieres-disease|website=vestibular.org|publisher=Vestibular Disorders Association|accessdate=22 September 2015|date=2012-03-06}}</ref>

Drop attacks often occur in elderly people; with a majority of documented cases occurring in women.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Revell |first1=Emily R. |last2=Gillespie |first2=David |last3=Morris |first3=Paul G. |last4=Stone |first4=Jon |date=2021-01-01 |title=Drop attacks as a subtype of FND: A cognitive behavioural model using grounded theory |journal=Epilepsy & Behavior Reports |volume=16 |pages=100491 |doi=10.1016/j.ebr.2021.100491 |issn=2589-9864 |pmc=8550987 |pmid=34746733}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hoeritzauer |first1=Ingrid |last2=Carson |first2=Alan |last3=Stone |first3=Jon |date=2016-12-01 |title="Cryptogenic Drop Attacks" Revisited |url=https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/87/12/e1.180 |journal=Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry |language=en |volume=87 |issue=12 |pages=e1 |doi=10.1136/jnnp-2016-315106.45 |issn=0022-3050|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stevens |first1=D. L. |last2=Matthews |first2=W. B. |date=1973-02-24 |title=Cryptogenic Drop Attacks: An Affliction of Women |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/1/5851/439 |journal=Br Med J |language=en |volume=1 |issue=5851 |pages=439–442 |doi=10.1136/bmj.1.5851.439 |issn=0007-1447 |pmc=1588502 |pmid=4689829}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Butsch |first1=Raphael |last2=Schneemann |first2=Markus |date=2014-06-27 |title=Two women with recurrent falls: La maladie des genoux bleus alias cryptogenic drop attacks |url=https://casereports.bmj.com/content/2014/bcr-2013-200855 |journal=Case Reports |language=en |volume=2014 |pages=bcr2013200855 |doi=10.1136/bcr-2013-200855 |issn=1757-790X |pmc=4078483 |pmid=24973344}}</ref> [[Falls in older adults]] happen for many reasons, and the goals of health care include preventing any preventable falls and correctly diagnosing any falls that do happen.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Medical terminology]]

{{Symptom-stub}}

Drop attack - Revision history

imported>OAbot: Open access bot: url-access updated in citation with #oabot.