Cardiovascular autonomic dysregulation and fatigue in multiple sclerosis

Both cardiovascular disturbances and fatigue are frequent in multiple sclerosis (MS). We investigated their relationship in 84 MS patients (mean age 39.9+8.9 years) using five established autonomic tests and three different fatigue questionnaires. 64.2% of the patients were categorised as being fatigued. Fatigue perception was weakly related to EDSS. Moderate cardiovascular disturbances were found in 16.6% of the patients, and 10.7% had severe cardiovascular autonomic abnormalities. Cardiovascular dysfunction was slightly related to age and to EDSS. In 19.4% of all patients signs of autonomic failure and fatigue were co-existent. Using correlation analysis, we found only weakly significant correlation coefficients between some single autonomic test parameters and fatigue scores, which were confounded by age effects. The analysis of dichotomised data revealed slightly significant differences in fatigue experience between patients with and without abnormalities regarding the handgrip test and the Valsalva reaction. Thus, autonomic disturbances might contribute to fatigue symptoms in a MS subgroup, but the overall influence of the autonomic cardiovascular regulation towards fatigue experience seems to be of minor relevance.

Cardiovascular autonomic tests in diabetic patients with gastroparesis

The aim of this report was to study the cardiovascular autonomic tests in the evaluation of diabetic patients with gastroparesis. Forty diabetic subjects were divided into two groups: one group with gastroparesis (GP, n=20) and another group paired by age and duration of diabetes without any complaint of autonomic neuropathy (DC, n=20) . They were evaluated clinically and submitted to a battery of five cardiovascular autonomic tests. The presence and severity of autonomic neuropathy were defined according to the number of normal cardiovascular tests. Each test had a score: zero ( normal ), one ( borderline ) and two ( abnormal ). The GP group showed a higher abnormal total score in the cardiovascular autonomic test than the group without any complaint (6.6 ± 3.0 vs. 2.7 ± 1.4, p <0.01). These data suggest that diabetic with gastroparesis presents more abnormal cardiovascular autonomic tests than diabetic without autonomic neuropathy and these tests should be included in the evaluation of diabetic patients with gastroparesis.

The Sweating Anomaly in Cluster Headache: Further Observations on the Underlying Mechanism

We describe a patient with a typical history of cluster headache for more than 18 years. During the first approximately 10 years of his disease, the pain was right-sided, and pupillometric and evaporimetric measurements indicated a sympathetic deficiency on this same side. However, for the next >6 years, his pain was consistently left-sided, although the signs of sympathetic dysfunction still were more marked on the right side. This was also true for the findings obtained during the interictal period and for the heating test performed within an attack. The implications of this interesting case are discussed. The view that two separate lines of symptom production lead to the pain and the autonomic phenomena seems to be supported by this case history. The cluster headache syndrome may also be a bilateral disorder, with only the weight of balance pointing one way or the other. Finally, the autonomic test results of this patient could reflect an autonomic “scar” in the previous headache side.