Autonomic Nervous Dysfunction in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis / 대한류마티스학회지

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the frequency of autonomic nervous dysfunction and assess the factors associated with autonomic nervous dysfunction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: Three battery of cardiovascular autonomic nervous function tests (CAN test);heart rate response to Valsalva maneuver,deep breathing and standing up,were performed in 68 patients who met the 1987 American Rheumatism Association revised criteria for RA and 58 healthy controls.Autonomic nervous dysfunction was defined as 2 of 3 CAN tests were abnormal. Clinical and radiographic variables such as age,sex,disease duration,erythrocyte sedimentaton rate (ESR)and bone destruction,were analyzed in patients with or without autonomic nervous dysfunction. RESULTS: In patients with RA,the frequency of autonomic nervous dysfunction was higher than healthy controls (50.8%in RA vs 15.5%in healthy controls,p<0.05).Age,sex,disease duration,ESR and bone destruction were not associated with autonomic nervous dysfunction in patients with RA CONCLUSIONS: This results suggest that autonomic nervous dysfunction may be a significant feature in patients with RA.