• Anupama Poudel, Masato Asahina, Yoshikatsu Fujinuma, Yoshitaka Yamanaka, Akira Katagiri, Nobuyuki Araki, Shigeki Hirano, and Satoshi Kuwabara.
• Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-Ku, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan. anupamauprety@yahoo.com.
• Clin. Auton. Res. 2015 Dec 1; 25 (6): 367-71.

PurposeCutaneous sympathetic pathophysiology in complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS-1) is not yet completely understood. To evaluate cutaneous sympathetic dysfunction in CRPS-1, we evaluated sympathetic sweat response (SSwR) and skin vasomotor reflex (SkVR) in CRPS-1 patients.MethodsWe studied 10 CRPS-1 patients (age 41 ± 13 years; 5 females and 5 males; disease duration 20 ± 22 months) and 10 healthy subjects (age 44 ± 13 years; 3 females and 7 males). SkVRs and SSwRs to several sympathetic activating procedures were recorded on the palms of the CRPS-1 patients (affected side) and controls (right side).ResultsThere were no significant differences in the baselines of sweat output and skin blood flow between the CRPS-1 and control groups. SSwR and SkVR amplitudes were significantly lower in the CRPS-1 group than in the control group. There was no significant correlation between disease duration and SSwR or SkVR amplitudes among the patients.ConclusionsThe reduced SSwRs and SkVRs in the affected limb of our CRPS-1 patients may reflect underlying damage to the sympathetic postganglionic fibres.

26 keywords...

hide…