The Subjective and Objective Evaluations of Autonomic Nervous System Function in Stroke Patients

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate autonomic function in stroke patients and to explore the relationship between patient's subjective symptoms and the results of objective tests regarding autonomic dysfunction. METHOD: Twenty stroke patients and 27 controls were recruited. Autonomic function was accessed by subjective checklist and by objective tests such as sympathetic skin response (SSR) and blood pressure (BP) response to positional change and to sustained hand-grip. Motor function was classified using the Brunnstrom stages: Group 1, stage 1 and 2; Group 2, stage 3 and 4; Group 3, stage 5 and 6. RESULTS: Seventy percent of patients had subjective changes in autonomic function after stroke. 50% and 65.5% of patients revealed autonomic insufficiency by BP responsetests and SSR, respectively. More than half of the patients who didn't have any subjective changes in autonomic function revealed autonomic insufficiency by objective tests. Group 1 of Brunnstrom stage in upper extremity showed significantly longer SSR latencies (p<0.05) and lower amplitudes than the controls (p<0.05). Group 1 and 2 of Brunnstrom stage in lower extremity showed significantly longer SSR latencies (p<0.05) and lower amplitudes than the controls (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Although stroke patients don't complain any subjective symptoms of autonomic dysfunction, they need to undergo objective autonomic function evaluations such as SSR and BP responses.

Objective olfactory function test through analysis of human Q-EEG changes / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Increased industrialization and the changing environment have caused complex olfactory problems in the modern population, and the need for an objective evaluation of such problems has thus come to our attention. In this study, we used the human Q-EEG (Bio-Logic, Brain Atlas III) equipment to evaluate olfactory fuction, and tried to lay out a basis for an objective test of olfactory function in humans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty normosmic adults and ten anosmic patients were studied by the human Q-EEG equipment. EEG changes were analyzed by a nonparametric test (Mann-Whitney test, p<0.05). A mixture of S-D alcohol, benzophenol, BHT (benzyl hydroxy toluene), water, and fragrance were used as an odorant. The odorant was applied to the one third anterior of the inferior turbinate using a small piece of filter paper soaked in the odorant. RESULTS: During odorant stimulation, the Q-EEG analyzer showed that the delta band (0-3.5 Hz) decreased in the whole brain region, while the alpha band (8-11.5 Hz) increased in the bilateral temporal region in the normosmic patients. There was no Q-EEG changes in the anosmic patients. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that human Q-EEG analysis may provide the basis for the development of an objective test of olfactory function in humans.