Comparative analysis of autonomic and somatic dysfunction in chronic uraemia.

The relationship between autonomic dysfunction and peripheral somatic neuropathy was investigated in uraemics. The battery of autonomic tests included R-R interval variation test, deep breathing, Valsalva manoeuvre, heart rate and blood pressure responses to standing, and sustained handgrip. Maximum conduction velocity along sensory and motor fibres of the posterior tibial nerve was measured. An impairment of parasympathetic reflexes was more frequent than a sympathetic damage, but with no relationship to the degree of electrophysiological disturbances. Cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction and somatic neuropathy in uraemia result to be two different entities in incidence and perhaps in pathogenesis.