Premium
Skin and muscle vasomotor reflexes in detecting autonomic dysfunction in leprosy
Author(s) -
WilderSmith Einar P. V.,
WilderSmith Annelies J.,
Nirkko Arto C.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4598(200007)23:7<1105::aid-mus14>3.0.co;2-a
Subject(s) - vasomotor , laser doppler velocimetry , reflex , vasoconstriction , medicine , vasodilation , blood flow , anesthesia , cardiology
There are few tests to assess the function of small unmyelinated nerve fibers. One established test is the skin vasomotor reflex (SVMR), which uses laser doppler flow velocimetry. The SVMR has the disadvantages of being susceptible to interference (from change of temperature and alerting stimuli) and of requiring expensive equipment. An ultrasound doppler method, which is less expensive, can be used to detect muscle vasomotor reflex (MVMR) activity. We sought to compare the efficacy of these two methods in detecting dysfunction of small unmyelinated nerve fibers in patients with leprosy. SVMR was shown to be less sensitive ( P < 0.01) and specific ( P < 0.001) than MVMR. The favorable results of MVMR may be attributed to its lesser susceptibility to interfering sympathetic vasoconstriction from alerting stimuli. MVMR also reflects larger areas of blood vessel innervation than the laser doppler method. In leprosy, nerve damage is typically patchy and may be missed by the smaller sampling of the laser method. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 23: 1105–1112, 2000