Abstract
Shoulder hand syndrome was one of the severe complications in stroke patients and often disturbed the QOL and the rehabilitation therapy. The reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) was considered as the pathogenesis of shoulder hand syndrome, but the therapy had been not established. We analyzed the sympathetic nerve function of thermotherapy of shoulder-neck or passive exercise of limbs in stroke patients. ‹methods› In stoke patients suffering from shoulder hand syndrome, we set the thermisters (Terumo.Co. CMT-205) and local perspiration meters (Skinos Co. SKD 2000) on both forefingers and set the accelerated photoplethysmography (Tokyo Iken Co. SA.3000P). We analyzed the blood vessel tension (BVT) and the wave type. ‹results› The temperature of the paralytic fingers and hands was significantly higher than the temperature of the normal sides. The pulse wave patterns and blood vessel tension in paralytic fingers were more disturbed than those of intact fingers. The perspirations of paralytic hands were significantly correlated with duration and systolic blood pressures and the sympathetic nerve function was considered to concern to the disorders in early stage of stoke.
