title: Visceral orthostatic hypotension in patients with severe autonomic dysfunction.
abstract: Although changes in the blood flow of the cerebral vessels and the peripheral vessels in the extremities after changing body postures have been well examined in patients with orthostatic hypotension (OH), such changes in visceral vessels have not been well investigated. To elucidate the effect of autonomic dysfunctions on changes in the abdominal blood flow, the blood flow velocity of the portal vein was measured by Doppler ultrasonography in 11 patients with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) (Met30), 3 with pandysautonomia, 1 with Shy-Drager syndrome, and 10 healthy controls, in the supine and at the upright position. Among the 15 patients with the above-mentioned autonomic disorders, 5 of the patients showed a marked decrease in blood flow after standing, and one of these 5 patients exhibited transient hepatic and intestinal ischemia during intensive rehabilitation because of a severe decrease in visceral blood flow. Another 7 patients exhibited moderate decreases in the blood flow after standing. In contrast, no such change was observed in the 10 healthy controls. The FAP patients with L-threo-3,4-dihydroxyphenylserine (L-threo-DOPS) administration showed no significant correlation between the degree of OH and the decrease in the blood flow of the portal vein, and the patients without the drug exhibited a weak correlation. On the contrary, the pandysautonomia and Shy-Drager syndrome patients exhibited a linear positive correlation. These results suggest that FAP is a disease for which this kind of ultrasonographic examination should be applied, and that Doppler ultrasonography may be a helpful tool to evaluate visceral OH.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Honjo, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Terazaki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Obayashi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshimatsu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suga
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uchino
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ando
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001342:Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D003106:Colon / Q000473:pathology; D015103:Droxidopa / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007024:Hypotension, Orthostatic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011169:Portal Vein / Q000502:physiology; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D015103:Droxidopa