J Korean Rheum Assoc.  2001 Jun;8(2):81-86.

Autonomic Nervous Dysfunction in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

• Hong YH
• Lee EY
• Lee CK

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the frequency of autonomic nervous dysfunction and assess the factors associated with autonomic nervous dysfunction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
METHODS
Three battery of cardiovascular autonomic nervous function tests (CAN test);heart rate response to Valsalva maneuver,deep breathing and standing up,were performed in 68 patients who met the 1987 American Rheumatism Association revised criteria for RA and 58 healthy controls.Autonomic nervous dysfunction was defined as 2 of 3 CAN tests were abnormal. Clinical and radiographic variables such as age,sex,disease duration,erythrocyte sedimentaton rate (ESR)and bone destruction,were analyzed in patients with or without autonomic nervous dysfunction.
RESULTS
In patients with RA,the frequency of autonomic nervous dysfunction was higher than healthy controls (50.8%in RA vs 15.5%in healthy controls,p<0.05).Age,sex,disease duration,ESR and bone destruction were not associated with autonomic nervous dysfunction in patients with RA
CONCLUSIONS
This results suggest that autonomic nervous dysfunction may be a significant feature in patients with RA.

Keyword

Rheumatoid arthritis; Autonomic nervous dysfunction; Cardiovascular Autonomic Nervous function test

MeSH Terms

Arthritis, Rheumatoid*
Humans
Respiration
Rheumatic Diseases