Evaluation of sympathetic skin response in old-polio patients.

BACKGROUND: Many polio patients develop problems such as cold intolerance in the affected limbs, which seems to be due to sympathetic nervous system dysfunction. This study aimed to investigate whether there is a sympathetic system dysfunction in old-polio patients by means of the systematic skin response test. METHOD: Forty old-polio patients and 20 healthy subjects were included in the study. Disease duration was 31.5 years (19-49 years) in the patient group. Sympathetic skin responses were obtained in all the subjects' limbs. Thirteen patients had right lower limb paresis/paralysis, 14 had left limb paresis/paralysis and 13 had paresis/paralysis of both lower limbs. The upper limbs were unaffected in all the patients. RESULTS: Although there was no significant difference between sympathetic skin response latencies of the case and control groups, the amplitude values of the sympathetic skin response in the patient's lower extremities were significantly lower than those in the control group. CONCLUSION: There was a sympathetic nervous system dysfunction in some old-polio patients. This finding might be useful in evaluation and treatment of old-polio patients, developing new problems.

Which parameter is more reliable in a cold hand, NCV or latency.

Temperature affects distal sensory & motor latencies & nerve conduction velocity but not necessarily at the same degree. Purpose of this study is to see which one is affected less and thus could be more reliable in cold conditions. A total of 32 healthy individuals with age range of 18-28 years (mean 22.25 +/- 2.2) participated in this study. Skin Temperature was recorded at wrist. Distal median motor & sensory latencies and transcarpal median NCV were recorded before and after immersion in cold water. Statistical analysis was performed using paired t-test with SPSS. All parameters were affected by cold but the effect was less dramatic in transcarpal NCV. Transcarpal median NCV is least affected parameter by cold, so it may be more reliable than sensory & motor latencies at wrist.

Sympathetic skin response (SSR) in Crohn disease: a pilot study.

Peripheral neuropathy is one of the most frequently reported neurological extra-intestinal manifestations of the Crohn disease. Former studies have showed sympathetic neuropathy as early manifestation of CD by physical tests. The aim of this study is to examine sympathetic neuropathy in CD by using sympathetic skin response (SSR). We performed SSR on 6 Patients (4 male, 2 female) that were diagnosed as CD. Their age was between 26 till 68 years with the mean of (43.3 +/- 17.1) years. The duration of their disease was at least 4 years (mean: 9.0 +/- 8.4) and none of the patients had any symptoms or signs related to autonomic nervous system dysfunction. Hand and foot latencies in CD patients were prolonged relative to controls and the difference of hand latencies was statistically significant. Two patients demonstrated total abnormal results. In conclusion, there is some sub-clinical sympathetic dysfunction in CD patient. This suggests that SSR can be useful in detecting early autonomic changes in these patients.