A battery of cardiovascular reflex tests were performed on 20 patients with chronic renal failure on intermittent haemodialysis, to assess occurrence of parasympathetic and sympathetic abnormalities. Using age-adjusted confidence limits, elderly uraemics showed more extensive parasympathetic and sympathetic dysfunction than middle-aged patients. The results suggest that the autonomic nervous system in the elderly is more susceptible to uraemic toxins than in the middle aged. This should lead to better preventive and therapeutic strategies for older uraemics.
14 male Wistar rats were studied, before and after pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) 20 mg/kg i.p., since a petit mal-like electroclinical pattern, either spontaneous or PTZ-induced was recently described in a breeding station where this strain is raised. In particular, surface EEG, muscular, respiratory and cardiac activities were recorded in order to detect possible clinical-electroencephalographic correlations. Spontaneous epileptic phenomena were never observed. In all the animals PTZ-induced short, usually generalized and synchronous spike wave discharges often concomitant with rhythmic twitches of the vibrissae. Epileptic bursts were related to arousal level, disappearing during motor behavior and arousing stimuli. Moreover individual discharges could be interrupted by a sudden noise. Photosensitivity was not present. Muscular tone and autonomic functions were not affected. The features of PTZ-induced generalized nonconvulsive seizures in rats are compared to those of cat penicillin epilepsy and human petit mal.
A patient with botulism was studied at different times after intoxication using various autonomic tests of the cardiovascular reflexes, and by single fiber EMG (SFEMG). The control of heart rate and blood pressure appeared markedly impaired in the early stage of the disease as well as SFEMG. Autonomic function recovered more slowly as neuromuscular transmission. Monitoring autonomic derangement in botulism may give the opportunity to select patients at risk for cardiac or respiratory arrest.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.