Stress induced hypotension in pure autonomic failure
- Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, Netherlands
- Correspondence to: Dr Roland D Thijs Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, Netherlands; r.d.thijs{at}lumc.nl
- Received 17 June 2005
- Accepted 16 November 2005
- Revised 11 November 2005
- Published Online First 14 December 2005
Abstract
A 47 year old woman with pure autonomic failure complained of dizziness during emotional stress. Emotional stimuli have not previously been reported to cause hypotension in patients with autonomic failure. In the patient, ambulatory blood pressure recording revealed severe hypotension (50/30 mm Hg) after a stressful event. During a tilt table test, hyperventilation was shown to cause a significant fall of blood pressure. This suggests that emotional stress can induce hypotension, probably through hyperventilation, in subjects with autonomic failure.
Footnotes
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Published Online First 14 December 2005
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Competing interests: none declared
