Outcome Using Either Intradermal Botox Injection or Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy for Patients with Primary Palmar Hyperhidrosis: A Comparative Study

Hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating, negatively impacts patients both physically and psychologically. It may be primary or secondary: the primary form is a benign condition, with its growing prevalence reaching 5% recently. Its medical treatments are transitory. Objectives: Comparison of the outcomes of patients with primary palmar hyperhidrosis (PPH) after intradermal Botox injection (IBI) versus endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (ETS). Methods: Forty patients were randomly divided into two equal groups. Patients in the IBI group received an intradermal injection of a botulinum toxin A. Patients in the EST group received endoscopic electrocautery of the sympathetic chain. The patients were evaluated biweekly for 12 weeks, and patient satisfaction by outcome was evaluated using a 4-point satisfaction score. Results: At 12 weeks, 60% of the IBI group patients had maintained an improvement. Meanwhile, 40% of the patients were improved compared to pre-intervention scores, despite deterioration after remarkable improvement. On the other hand, 80% of ETS group patients maintained their Hyperhidrosis Disease Severity Scale (HDSS) up until the end of follow-up. Patient satisfaction scores were significantly higher for the IBI group compared to the ETS group. Conclusions: Intradermal Botox injection is a simple, safe, non-invasive, and effective therapeutic modality for PPH and achieved higher patient satisfaction compared to ETS.

Cardiorespiratory synchronisation and systolic blood pressure correlation of peripheral arterial stiffness during endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy

Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) is known as an effective measure to evaluate peripheral sympathetic activity; however, it requires invasive measurement with the microneurography method. In contrast, peripheral arterial stiffness affected by MSNA is a measure that allows non-invasive evaluation of mechanical changes of arterial elasticity. This paper aims to clarify the features of peripheral arterial stiffness to determine whether it inherits MSNA features towards non-invasive evaluation of its activity. To this end, we propose a method to estimate peripheral arterial stiffness $$\beta$$ β at a high sampling rate. Power spectral analysis of the estimated $$\beta$$ β was then performed on data acquired from 15 patients ($$23.7 \pm 9.0$$ 23.7 ± 9.0 years) who underwent endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy. We examined whether $$\beta$$ β exhibited the features of MSNA where its frequency components synchronise with heart and respiration rates and correlates with the low-frequency component of systolic blood pressure. Regression analysis revealed that the local peak frequency in the range of heartbeat frequency highly correlate with the heart rate ($$R^{2}=0.85$$ R 2 = 0.85 , $$p=6.3\times 10^{-13}$$ p = 6.3 × 10 - 13 ) where the regression slope was approximately 1 and intercept was approximately 0. Frequency analysis then found spectral peaks of $$\beta$$ β approximately 0.2 Hz that correspond to the respiratory cycle. Finally, cross power spectral analysis showed a significant magnitude squared coherence between $$\beta$$ β and systolic blood pressure in the frequency band from 0.04 to 0.2 Hz. These results indicate that $$\beta$$ β inherits the features observed in MSNA that require invasive measurements, and thus $$\beta$$ β can be an effective non-invasive substitution for MSNA measure.

Does endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy improve the quality of life of patients with primary hyperhidrosis? A single center retrospective review

Background: Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (ETS) is renowned as an effective surgical treatment for primary hyperhidrosis (PHH) and believed to improve patients’ quality of life (QOL). This study aimed to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) of patients with PHH after ETS compared to before ETS, and to determine whether compensatory sweating (CS) affects QOL of patients. Methods: This is a single-centre retrospective review of patients who had undergone ETS at the National Heart Center [Institut Jantung Negara (IJN)], Malaysia. In total, 62 patients from January 2014 to December 2018 were recruited. Medical records were first reviewed for all relevant data, prior to making telephone interview to administer the questionnaire. A modified questionnaire with validated components was used to assess the patients’ QOL. Patient satisfaction, symptom resolution, recurrence and occurrence of CS were also asked during the interview. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0. Results: A total of 46 patients (response rate: 74.2%) completed the questionnaire, with 95.7% reporting improvement in the total QOL score (Mean difference = 113.54, SD=70.79, 95% CI = 95.52 – 134.57, p<0.001). There was remarkable symptom resolution for palmar HH as 97.8% reported dry hands, whereas majority of patients with palmar-plantar HH reported persistent sweating from feet HH. CS rate was 89.1%. In terms of severity of CS, 6 (14.6%) reported mild, 17 (41.5%) moderate, and 18 (43.9%) had severe CS. The severity of CS as well as the number of locations have a significant effect on the QOL reported (p=0.022 and p=0.008, respectively). Conclusion: ETS is an effective treatment for PHH in improving the QOL of patients, even long term. The occurrence of CS did not affect the QOL, but severity of CS and number of locations involved in CS affect the QOL of patients.