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Tilt Testing with Combined Lower Body Negative Pressure: a "Gold Standard" for Measuring Orthostatic Tolerance
Published on: March 21, 2013
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Autonomic function testing in long-COVID syndrome patients with orthostatic intolerance
1Department of Neurology, State University of New York, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA; Department of Pathology, State University of New York, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA.
Autonomic Neuroscience : Basic & Clinical
|June 9, 2022
Summary
Long-COVID patients with orthostatic intolerance often show normal autonomic reflex screening. Few patients met criteria for POTS, suggesting other causes for their symptoms.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Cardiology
- Autonomic Neuroscience
Background:
- Dysautonomia and long-COVID syndrome are increasingly recognized.
- Orthostatic intolerance (OI) is a common long-COVID symptom.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize autonomic reflex screen (ARS) findings in long-COVID patients with OI.
- To identify the prevalence of specific autonomic disorders like POTS in this cohort.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of ARS data from 14 long-COVID patients with OI.
- Included head-up tilt table (HUTT) testing and sudomotor/cardiovagal function assessments.
Main Results:
- All patients had normal cardiovagal function; 2/14 had abnormal sudomotor function.
- Only 3/14 patients met criteria for POTS based on HUTT.
- The most frequent presentation was OI symptoms without significant HUTT abnormalities (57%).
Conclusions:
- Most long-COVID patients with OI exhibit normal ARS findings.
- POTS is not the primary diagnosis for the majority of these patients.
- Further research is needed to understand the pathophysiology of OI in long-COVID.
