REFERENCE · DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
Functional Drop Attacks Diagnostic Inventory
The clinician maps the sequence before, during and after the fall, including posture, warning, awareness, movement and recovery. A retrospective cohort describes a common functional phenotype, but no validated single bedside sign was established. (*citations* [1](#citation-1))
Reference Library › Diagnostic Signs › Symptom overview
- Reconstructing a Sudden Fall
- Differential Assessment of Drop Attacks
- Falls, Everyday Function and Follow-Up
Structured event reconstruction
Witness account or safe video
A consensual account or existing recording may clarify whether there was blackout, knee buckling or a longer seizure-like event. This supports classification, not diagnosis from appearance alone. Never provoke a fall or withhold an aid for recording. [1]
Awareness and recovery profile
No definite loss of consciousness with relatively rapid recovery may fit the described phenotype. It also occurs in other disorders, including cataplexy and vestibular falls. Missing memory of impact does not by itself establish or exclude a functional cause. [1]
Associated positive functional signs
Matching weakness, gait or seizure findings may support a wider functional formulation. The drop-attack cohort showed overlap, but a functional diagnosis elsewhere does not prove the cause of each fall. [1]
Cardiovascular and orthostatic assessment
History, examination, ECG and selected monitoring or tilt testing address syncope and arrhythmia when indicated. These are differential investigations; normal results alone do not classify a fall as functional. [1]
Epilepsy and sleep assessment
Event characteristics guide seizure investigation or assessment for cataplexy and narcolepsy. These are differential pathways, not positive FND techniques. Preserved awareness is compatible with cataplexy and some epileptic events. [1]
Vestibular, gait and mechanical assessment
The clinician evaluates vestibular drop attacks, leg buckling, medications and environmental or musculoskeletal causes as appropriate. No single normal balance or gait test proves functional drop attacks. [1]
Research and Sources
| Citation | Full citation and evidence limit |
|---|---|
| [1] | Hoeritzauer I, Carson AJ, Stone J. “Cryptogenic drop attacks” revisited: evidence of overlap with functional neurological disorder. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. 2018;89(7):769–776. FND-CIT-0059. https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2017-317396 |
| [2] | Revell ER, Gillespie D, Morris PG, Stone J. Drop attacks as a subtype of FND: a cognitive behavioural model using grounded theory. Epilepsy & Behavior Reports. 2021;16:100491. FND-CIT-0060. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebr.2021.100491 |
| [3] | Stone J. Functional drop attacks. Neurosymptoms.org. Accessed September 2, 2026. FND-CIT-0061. https://neurosymptoms.org/en/symptoms/fnd-symptoms/functional-drop-attacks/ |
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