Abstract
Sympathetic skin response (SSR) was delivered from both hands of 6 patients with cardiovascular disease (uncomplicated group) and 5 with a complication of cardiovascular disease and shoulder-hand syndrome (complicated group), and their latent time and amplitude of SSR were compared. Eight age-matched healthy volunteers served as controls. 1) The amplitudes of SSR of affected side were 1.55±0.54 and 1.23 ± 0.30 mV in complicated and uncomplicated groups, respectively, which were both significantly smaller than controls. 2) Affected/ unaffected ratio of the amplitude of complicated group was significantly higher (2.34±0.87) than that of uncomplicated group (1.25±0.46). 3) In all subjects, the amplitudes of SSR became larger during valsalva loading compared with at rest, though the difference was insignificant. The amplitude of SSR delivered from affected hand of complicated group was larger than those from unaffected hand of complicated group and from affected hand of uncomplicated group. This suggests that the amplitude may mirror the status of shoulder-hand syndrome.
