Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism
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Semin. Arthritis Rheum. · Dec 2014
Comparative StudyAutonomic symptom burden in the hypermobility type of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome: a comparative study with two other EDS types, fibromyalgia, and healthy controls.
This study provides insight into the profile and importance of autonomic symptoms in the hypermobility type (HT) of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). The impact of these symptoms is put into perspective by comparing with fibromyalgia (FM) and two other EDS types. ⋯ Autonomic symptoms, especially orthostatic and gastrointestinal complaints, are frequent extraarticular manifestations of EDS-HT and contribute to the disease burden.
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Semin. Arthritis Rheum. · Dec 2014
ReviewAutonomic function and rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory condition with increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Accumulating evidence indicates that the immune and autonomic nervous systems (ANS) are major contributors to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. We performed the first systematic literature review to determine the prevalence and nature of ANS dysfunction in RA and whether there is a causal relationship between inflammation and ANS function. ⋯ ANS dysfunction is prevalent in ~60% of RA patients. The main pattern of dysfunction is impairment of cardiovascular reflexes and altered HRV, indicative of reduced cardiac parasympathetic (strong evidence) activity and elevated cardiac sympathetic activity (limited evidence). The literature to date is underpowered to determine causal relationships between inflammation and ANS dysfunction in RA.