Dysautonomia: a common comorbidity of systemic disease

Abstract

Referring to a broad spectrum of the autonomic symptoms, autonomic disorders, and general dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, dysautonomia is one of the common and under-recognized comorbidities of a wide variety of systemic disease, including diabetes, autoimmune disorders, vitamin deficiencies, and hormonal dysregulation. The most common autonomic disorders encountered in clinical practice are postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), neurocardiogenic syncope (NCS), and orthostatic hypotension (OH), which may be undiagnosed or often mislabeled with psychiatric disorders. Typical clinical features of dysautonomia, such as orthostatic dizziness/lightheadedness, orthostatic intolerance, palpitations, exercise intolerance, cognitive dysfunction, and fatigue, should prompt a diagnostic investigation for dysautonomia, which includes an in-office 10-min stand test or a tilt table test in conjunction with other autonomic function tests if available. Treatment approach consists of non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic therapies with beta blockers, midodrine, ivabradine, pyridostigmine, fludrocortisone, stimulants, and other medications. In clinical setting, dysautonomia may present a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge in patients with various systemic disorders and may require a high index of suspicion on the part of the clinician. Importantly, diagnosing and treating dysautonomia is critical to providing comprehensive and personalized medical care to complex patients with chronic illness, who are typically highly symptomatic with multi-systemic complaints as a result of comorbid, and often undiagnosed, dysautonomia.

Keywords: Autonomic dysfunction; Dysautonomia; Neurocardiogenic syncope (NCS); Orthostatic hypotension (OH); Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).