title: Stress induced hypotension in pure autonomic failure.
abstract: A 47 year old woman with pure autonomic failure complained of dizziness during emotional stress. Emotional stimuli have not previously been reported to cause hypotension in patients with autonomic failure. In the patient, ambulatory blood pressure recording revealed severe hypotension (50/30 mm Hg) after a stressful event. During a tilt table test, hyperventilation was shown to cause a significant fall of blood pressure. This suggests that emotional stress can induce hypotension, probably through hyperventilation, in subjects with autonomic failure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands. r.d.thijs@lumc.nl
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Thijs
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: van Dijk
mesh_terms: D001342:Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000097:blood / Q000172:deficiency; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007024:Hypotension, Orthostatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008879:Midodrine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D002395:Catecholamines; D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents; D008879:Midodrine