title: Evaluation in autonomic diabetic neuropathy using a dual-channel self-balancing impedance reactometer. Preliminary study.
abstract: The electrodermal reflex to an external acoustic stimulus was determined by means of an original device "'The Neurovegetative Reactometer", as variation of the skin electric resistance delta R/R (recorded on millimetric paper) and latency in the appearance of the response (seconds), in 39 diabetic patients (20 males, 19 females, aged 55 +/- 10 years, and the duration of diabetes of 6 +/- 4 years) with or without clinical neuropathy and, comparatively, in 24 apparently healthy controls. The results showed a statistically significant difference both between the amplitude of the skin electric resistance variation evaluated on millimetric paper (6.77 +/- 4.06 mm versus 22.79 +/- 5.39 mm in the controls, p less than 0.001) and latency (4.29 +/- 1.55 versus 2.49 +/- 0.57 seconds, p less than 0.001). These two parameters reflect quantitatively the skin sympathetic activity in lower limbs. The results obtained recommend neurovegetative reactometry as a practical, non-invasive, rapid and readily applicable method, which is highly technical and sensitive for evaluating autonomic dysfunction in diabetic neuropathy.
mesh_terms: D001342:Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003929:Diabetic Neuropathies / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000295:instrumentation