Hemodynamic reactions to circulatory stress tests in patients with neurocirculatory dystonia

The hemodynamic reactions of 30 patients with neurocirculatory dystonia (NCD, DaCosta's syndrome) were compared to those of 30 healthy controls during the isometric handgrip test, orthostatic test, Valsalva test and the cold pressor test. The effects of hyperventilation on the ability to hold the breath were studied in both groups using the hyperventilation test. The patients and controls were young men, who were doing their conscript service, and the average age was 20 years in both groups. The diagnosis of NCD was made using the criteria described by Friedman (1947). The patients had several symptoms related to the cardiorespiratory system, the intensity of which varied from time to time and were not closely related to physical effort. In order to exclude organic diseases that could have caused the symptoms the patients were required to have no history of chronic organic diseases. They were also required to have no infectious diseases nor to be convalescents when participating in this study and to have a normal ECG and a normal thorax x-ray. The controls were anamnestically free from chronic diseases. The changes in the blood pressure, heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac index, peripheral vascular resistance and the systolic time intervals during the four tests were measured noninvasively using sphygmomanometry, electro-, phono- and impedance cardiography. The ability to hold the breath after a deep inspiration was similar in the two groups. Immediately after hyperventilation the ability to hold the breath did not improve in the NCD group as much as in the control group. In the orthostatic test the rise in the mean blood pressure was only momentarily greater in the control group than in the NCD group, and the heart rate increased about equally in the two groups. The transthoracic impedance increased significantly more in the controls than in the patients in the head-up position. The alterations in the systolic time intervals immediately after the changes of posture were more rapid in the control group that in the NCD group. During the expiratory strain of the Valsalva maneuver the hemodynamic changes in the two groups did not clearly differ from each other, but after the end of the strain the blood pressure overshoot lasted longer in the NCD group than in the control group. During the cold immersion the stroke volume decreased significantly more in the NCD group than in the control group. The stroke work index increased significantly in the control group, but did not change in the NCD group during the immersion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)