SUPPRESSED SYMPATHETIC SKIN-RESPONSE IN BRAIN INFARCTION

Background and Purpose: Autonomic failure is known to manifest commonl y in stroke, but very little attention has been given to various featu res of sympathetic dysfunction such as sudomotor dysregulation in cere brovascular diseases. In the present study, our purpose was to assess quantitatively sympathetic reflex activity in brain infarction by meas uring the sympathetic skin response. Methods: We recorded the sympathe tic skin response to electric and auditory stimulations simultaneously on both hands in 58 patients with brain infarction and in 36 healthy control subjects. Results: The response amplitudes were significantly decreased and the latencies prolonged in both hemispheral (n=49) and b rain stem (n=9) infarctions compared with the control subjects. The am plitudes were diminished in both the acute and late phases of infarcti on, but the lattices were prolonged only in the acute phase. Conclusio ns: Sympathetic dysfunction in brain infarction seems to be much more extensive than has previously been thought. In the present study, we h ave demonstrated impaired sympathetic skin responses, reflecting defin ite suppression of the reflex activity of the sympathetic nervous syst em.