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Autonomic neuropathy in familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy
Author(s) -
Niklasson U.,
Olofsson B.O.,
Bjerle P.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1989.tb03736.x
Subject(s) - medicine , polyneuropathy , heart rate , heart rate variability , autonomic nervous system , autonomic function , autonomic neuropathy , cardiology , amyloidosis , breathing , anesthesia , blood pressure , biology , genetics , cell culture , neuroblastoma
— Familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) is characterized by both sensimotor and autonomic dysfunction. Autonomic disturbance involving the gastrointestinal tract, the urinary bladder, the cardiac conduction system, and the peripheral circulation has been described. In this study simple, non‐invasive tests of autonomic function based on heart rate variability were applied to 12 patients with FAP and 12 healthy volunteers. The heart rate variation during normal breathing, deep breathing and during tilt from recumbent to standing position was measured. All tests showed significantly less heart rate variation in patients than in controls and the heart rate variation decreased with increasing severity of neurological disability, but the small number of patients in our study does not allow any further comparison between subgroups. Our study thus indicates impaired cardiovascular autonomic function in patients with FAP and we believe that these findings might also be of importance in other forms of systemic amyloidosis.