Small fibre function in primary autonomic failure

Abstract

A case of primary autonomic failure (AF) with uncomplicated Parkinson's disease is presented with clinical and neurophysiological data. Special emphasis is placed on new methods of examining impairment of unmyelinated sympathetic and afferent C-fibres. Sympathetic vasoconstrictor responses in the skin induced by deep inspiration were examined quantitatively with laser Doppler flowmetry. The vasoconstriction was markedly depressed in primary AF compared with healthy controls and similar to secondary forms of AF. Peripheral nociceptive C-fibre function was quantitatively assessed by measurement of axon reflex vasodilatation induced by histamine iontophoresis. The axon reflex vasodilatation was completely intact in primary AF in contrast to patients with secondary peripheral small fibre neuropathy. The results indicate that sympathetic C-fibres are considerably affected by the degenerative disease, whereas the afferent C-fibres seem to be totally preserved. Modern neurophysiological methods of testing sympathetic and afferent small fibre function in combination with other neurophysiological tests, e.g. brain-stem auditory evoked potentials, might help to diagnose and differentiate primary AF in early stages and make it easier to distinguish between secondary autonomic neuropathies of unknown origin that often also involve unmyelinated afferent fibres.