Cardiac neurosis: exercise tolerance and the role of sympathetic activity

To evaluate the cardiovascular and plasma catecholamine responses to dynamic exercise in patients with cardiac neurosis (CN), treadmill testing was performed. Thirty-four patients with CN were chosen for this study based on exercise tolerance and the results were compared with those in 31 patients with organic heart disease and 12 normal subjects. Patients with CN showed an augmentation of cardiovascular and plasma catecholamine responses. The augmentation of the norepinephrine response in patients with CN was not as remarkable as that in patients with organic heart disease. On the other hand, the augmentation of the epinephrine response was greater in patients with CN than in those with organic heart disease. Administration of metoprolol (40 mg/day) for two weeks improved exercise tolerance in patients with CN. We suggest that anxiety augments both sympatho-neural and sympatho-adrenal activity and that it is the symptoms induced by the augmented cardiovascular response which reduce exercise tolerance in patients with CN.