Long COVID Atlas
Text Theme
Note

Plain-language first, with specialist detail below. For understanding, not medical advice.

Long COVID Atlas › Glossary › Tilt-table test

Diagnostic

Tilt-table test

https://longcovidatlas.org/glossary/tilt-table-test

In plain language

What it is

A test that tilts you upright on a table while tracking heart rate and blood pressure.

Why it matters

It documents POTS, orthostatic intolerance, or fainting under controlled conditions.

Think of it like

A standing stress test for the circulation.

What standing up does Lying downheart rate about 72,blood spread evenly stand up Standingblood pools in the legs;to compensate the heartraces 30+ beats faster POTS = the racing heart on standing;orthostatic intolerance = dizzy, foggy, faint upright
Standing is a small cardiovascular stress test. Gravity pulls blood into the legs, and the body must tighten vessels and adjust heart rate to keep the brain supplied. When that reflex misfires, the heart compensates by racing (POTS) and the brain is briefly under-supplied, felt as dizziness, lightheadedness, and fog on standing.

For specialists

Formal definition

Head-up tilt testing provokes orthostatic responses to confirm POTS, orthostatic hypotension, or syncope.

Mechanism

Controlled orthostatic stress reveals heart-rate and blood-pressure responses not seen seated.

Sources

Related terms

POTSOrthostatic intolerance