title: Mortality and prognosis in patients with neurogenic orthostatic hypotension.
abstract: The prognosis of neurogenic orthostatic hypotension (NOH) has been poorly studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate retrospectively comorbidities and causes of death in patients with NOH. Clinical information and causes of death were obtained for 104 patients (45 with multiple system atrophy, 9 with pure autonomic failure, 43 with Parkinson's disease, and 7 with other types of autonomic neuropathy) referred to the Autonomic Unit from 1996 to 2009. Cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, cardiac comorbidities, atrial fibrillation and heart failure) were present in 53 (51%) NOH patients. At the end of follow-up, 44 patients were deceased. Type of NOH was the main factor associated with mortality. The main causes of death were infectious/respiratory (54%) and cardiac (16%). In NOH patients, cardiovascular diseases are frequent, although mortality is mainly due to infectious and respiratory causes. Detection of cardiovascular diseases may be useful in the choice of anti-hypotensive treatments.
authors.affiliation: Autonomic Unit and Hypertension Center, Department of Medicine and Experimental Oncology, University of Turin and S. Giovanni Battista Hospital, Italy. simmaule@tin.it
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maule
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Milazzo
authors.forename: Milena Maria
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Maule
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Stefano
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Milan
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Veglio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001342:Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007024:Hypotension, Orthostatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019578:Multiple System Atrophy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies