Comparison study on sympathetic skin responses in Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy patients

Abstract

Objective To observe the sympathetic skin responses (SSR) in idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA) patients, and to explore the differences of autonomic dysfunction between them. Methods The SSR of PD patients, MSA patients and control cases were detected by MEB⁃9200K electromyogram (EMG), and data were compared. The waveform latency period > (x + 2.50) s, amplitude lower than 50% of the average or no elicited waveform were considered to be abnormal. The correlation of abnormal character of SSR and duration in PD and MSA patients were analyzed. Results The latency of SSR was prolonged and the amplitude was reduced in both PD and MSA patients, which were significantly different from that in control cases (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference of latency and amplitude between PD and MSA patients (P > 0.05, for all). The abnormal ratio of SSR (P = 0.018) and the abnormal ratio of double side (P = 0.035) in MSA patients was higher than that in PD patients. The abnormal ratio of SSR in PD patients with duration less than 3 years was significantly higher than cases with more than 3 years (P = 0.033). No significant difference of the abnormal ratio of SSR was seen between MSA patients with duration less than 3 years and more than 3 years (P = 0.285). Conclusion The early presence and bilateral changes of SSR are often seen in MSA patients, and the more severe and widespread autonomic dysfunctions are also found in MSA．

DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672⁃6731.2012.05.018