Cardiovascular Parasympathetic Nervous System Dysfunction in Female Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients.
Loading...
Date
2013-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The autonomic dysfunction has been reported in patients with
(rheumatoid arthritis) RA and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) like
connective tissue disorders and it may be due to the vasculitis of vasa
nervorum and secondary amyloidosis. The pathogenesis may also have an
immune component that affects autonomic functions. In the present study,
three standard cardiovascular parasympathetic function tests were
performed in 207 RA patients and in 106 healthy controls. 14.45% patients
were presented with symptoms related to cardiovascular autonomic
dysfunction. Heart rate variation to deep breathing (DBD), standing (30:15
ratio), Valsalva ratio (VR) were found to be significantly reduced in RA
patients and was weakly associated with female RA patients (r=0.165,
p=0.018) and was not correlated to disease duration, RF positivity & severity
of the disease. In conclusion, this study has confirmed the presence of
significant subclinical cardiovascular parasympathetic nervous dysfunction
in RA patients and its positive association with female gender. Hence,
inclusion of cardiovascular autonomic function tests in the routine clinical
examination may be helpful in the early detection of autonomic dysfunction
in RA.
Description
Keywords
rheumatoid arthritis, parasympathetic dysfunction, cardiovascular autonomic tests, autonomic dysfunction
Citation
Saraswathi P V, Neelambikai N, Mahesh Arjun, Govindarajan K. Cardiovascular Parasympathetic Nervous System Dysfunction in Female Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients. Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. 2013 Jan-Mar; 57(1): 23-30.