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Subclinical autonomic disturbances in multiple sclerosis

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Abstract

We compared results from non-invasive autonomic testing [sympathetic skin responses (SSR), heart beat variation during deep breathing, and orthostatic manoeuvre with transcranial Doppler monitoring in 22 patients] with motor and somatosensory evoked potentials (MEP and SEP) in 30 unselected patients with multiple sclerosis. We found a similarly high yield of pathological results for SSR, MEP and SEP (66.7%, 65.5%, and 69%, respectively). When analysed for each limb (n = 120), SSR were highly correlated with MEP and SEP (for bothP < 0.001). Heart beat variation was reduced in only 3 patients. In 4 of 22 patients orthostatic manoeuvre induced a pathological decrease in cerebral blood flow velocity despite normal systemic blood pressure being maintained. We conclude that SSR may be a useful additional diagnostic tool in patients with multiple sclerosis. Cerebral dysautoregulation is a rather frequent finding, although its significance is not known.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Alfried Krupp Hospital, Alfried Krupp-Strasse 21, D-45117, Essen, Germany

    Dieter Linden, Rolf R. Diehl & Peter Berlit

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  1. Dieter Linden
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  2. Rolf R. Diehl
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  3. Peter Berlit
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Linden, D., Diehl, R.R. & Berlit, P. Subclinical autonomic disturbances in multiple sclerosis. J Neurol 242, 374–378 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00868392

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00868392

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